Problems during the Progressive Era
Political Corruption
Greed and corruption was present in both city and stat politics in the early 1900's. One of the corrupt politicians was Boston's Mayor, James Michael Curley, who was imprisoned twice for fraud and lived in a huge mansion with gold-plated bathroom fixtures, all paid for by bribes made by favored government contractors. Corruption like James Michael Curley cause public outrage, which led to America's first restrictions on lobbyist and the regulation of campaign finances. Several states even introduced public referendums, which is where the public directly votes on whether a bill becomes a law or not.
Urbanization and Tenement Slums
Between 1900 and 1910, 8.8 million immigrants moved into the United States of America. Upon arriving to the U.S, the immigrants were forced to move into crowded slums. Besides begin crowded, the slums lacked basic services such as water and a sewage system. Cities eventually imposed zoning regulations, housing reforms and created city-run electric and water plants, and a sewage system. Even Major Curley helped improved life for many poor immigrants, being a descendant of Irish immigrants, he tore down crumbling tenements to create public parks and beaches.
Abuse of Industry
Between 1897 and 1904, economic power became more focused as 4,227 companies merged to form 257 massive national corporations. The bosses of these companies, called "robber barons", did their best to manipulate prices, crush any competition, and exploited cheap labor thanks to the lack of government regulation. Roosevelt established federal commissions as a result, which regulated national industries like transportation and manufacturing. The government also focused on price fixing and prosecuted major corporations for forming trusts that led to monopolies and or took advantage of consumers.
Poor Health and Sanitation
Due to the horrible and disgusting food and drug products made produced by companies, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act were passed. They were passed when journalist revealed how the poisoned corpses of rats ended up in production lines for the U.S food supply and how milk distributors tried to increase profit by adding water and molasses to their milk, finishing off with chalk or plaster for better color. Horrified by this, the public pushed and succeeded in getting reforms in the form of laws on the minimum health and safety standards for food and drug products.
Environmental Issues
In the mid and late 1800's, natural resources were heavily exploited. A huge amount of forest are was being industrialized, mining companies had improper and wasteful mining practices. Thanks to an abundance of natural resources that seemed like it would never run out, America developed a tradition of waste. Concerned by the public's attitude towards natural resources and the use of natural resource for private gain, conservationists demanded for a federal supervision of the U.S's natural resources and the preservation of said resources for future generations. With the help of President Roosevelt, whose main concern for the environment was influenced by John Muir, conversationalists managed to put an end to the wasteful use of the U.S' natural resources. Several acts helped the conversationalists with their cost were Newsland act of 1902, the appointment of the Inland Waterways Commission in 1907, and the National Conservation Commission of 1909,