The Johnstown flood occurred May 31,1889 in Johnstown Pennsylvania. Killing over 2,200 people the flood was a catastrophic event that caused terror for the people of Johnstown and neighboring regions. After reading several articles from newspapers during the time of the flood, I found interesting articles, facts, and opinions documented in well known newspapers such as the “New York Herald” and the “Philadelphia Inquirer”. After searching theses newspaper articles in the archive I soon could see the relation with progressivism and the details that caused the flood.
The newspaper article “Widespread Fury and Destruction” by the New York Herald on June 02, 1889 goes into a summary of the destruction and lives lost because the flood. After reading the article I got a better understanding of what the flood actually was and the how it impacted not only the town, but many other systems within the town. An important point made in the article explained that the flood caused the railroads to shut down in high populated areas. This also caused the stop of mail and goods from entering certain places that needed the goods. After looking it over I believe that the use of the Article was not only stating news in the country but making a point that disasters such as this one impact a wide variety of things.
I also read an article named “The South Fork Club Sued” by the Philadelphia Inquirer on July 29, 1889. This article contained information about a lawsuit and the reasoning behind the flood. The article contained information about the Dam and the South Fork Club. A woman by the name Mrs. Little wanted 50,000 dollars from the rich businessmen involved with the club.
and she stated that the flood was caused by the hunting club reserving a ridiculous amount of water causing the dam to burst due to misuse and neglect by the club. I believe that the flood relates to progressivism through many different ways. After researching I got a better understanding about the rich businessmen of the club and how many of them were indeed progressives. This finding brought up the question that the wealthy progressive men caused this disaster due to too much power and carelessness brought on by their wealth. I also read where many lawsuits were created and this relates to progressivism because the reforms that were created. Many progressives and other politicians began to try to fix the problem by creating new laws and standards.
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