Throughout history, we have seen America change greatly. This nation was discovered in 1492. Since then, we have come a long way and much had changed. However, to get them to where we are today, werewhereAmericans he wasn’t easy. Many years ago, women were only even as submissive. Throughout, the progressive era, many things were changing, some were for it and some against it. One main controversy during the progressive era was leisure activities and whether society should allow them or not.
Industrialization impacted America in many ways. Most of these ways were positive but some caused many problems in people’s everyday lives. Children began work at a very young age for very little pay which resulted in child labor. Men and women work no less than 12 hours a day and got paid low amounts. Amounts that barely support their family. Not only did people get paid very little, but they also worked in extremely harsh working conditions. If you didn’t want to work and follow the rules of the corporation you can just quit but, for many people, this wasn’t an option because they needed to support their families. During this time, there were many political cartoons to convince people what to think and how to think. In Puck Magazine, there was a cartoon that showed the gap between the rich and the poor. The rich were seen sitting on top and getting carried by those who work hard for very little income. However, these wealthy individuals argued that they provided employment for American workers and that these workers should be satisfied they have a job. Controversies like these sparked the Progressive era.
The Progressive-era was a time of change and improvementProgressive-era. It began in 1890 and lasted until the roaring ’20s. Muckrakers were journalists who sparked the progressive era. They exposed the truth about social issues and revealed wrongdoings such as child labor and harsh working conditions. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, was a book that exposed the harsh working conditions in the meatpacking industry. “They your hand slips up on the blade and there is a fearful gash. And that would not be so bad, only for the deadly contagion. The cut may heal, but you never can tell.” (Sinclair, p,43). As we see, the Jungle exposes the dangerous working conditions in this industry. Due to these social issues and the people who revealed them laws were passed to improve working conditions and lower work shifts. People were now only going to work for 8 hours and have 8 hours of free time. This free time was known as leisure. Since people had more time to themselves they didn’t know what to do with themselves because they were used to working all day, going home to sleep, and going to church on Sunday. This free time resulted in new getting such as amusement parks, radio, movies, and sports. Many people went to these parks for fun and met new people. Men and women interacted more due to rides and games. However, certain individuals didn’t like the idea of leisure. Who knew people would be against something so simple.
One might ask themselves, why would people be against leisure? Isn’t it nice to relax and enjoy life? However, there are some disadvantages to it as well. One of the main arguments was that it would negatively shape society. The reason for this is that men and women were getting more and more comfortable with one another. In about other words, before this era, women were seen as the submissive sex. Their duty was only in the household. In addition, they couldn’t own property and even they belonged to their husbands. Sex before marriage was seen as a sin and if women did it then their reputation helped and help would be ruined. Since people were so used to this way of living, many people didn’t like the change that the progressive era brought. Women started to become more cautious, flirt with men, smoke cigarettes, AmericansaboutAmericans, and show a bit more skin. Many wealthy Americanshe argued about whether to give labor workers shorter workday help workday helwere he wasn’t. They believed that the more time spent in factories would result in, more production and money. But if a worker is tired, wouldn’t they work at a slower rate?
Leisure activities also had many positive aspects as well. Leisure activities not only included amusement parks and movies. It included exercise and better air quality for people who were able to get out of the factory. “While the main focus is on enjoyment, a major component tends to be aerobic exercise, which is intensive high energy movement designed to increase cardiovascular health.” (Study.com, 2018) Things like this helpedhelp manage stress and get things off one’s mind.
In conclusion, we can see that there are many advantages and disadvantages of leisure activities. There are numerous reasons why corporations were against it. The Progressive Era was a time of reform and change.
