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The powerful Southern Pacific Railroad dominated California at the turn of the century. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, municipal corruption was rampant, and tensions between capital and labor threatened to escalate into violence. However, during the first two decades of the 20th century, vigorous reformers challenged the power of the railroad and successfully passed a dramatic set of badly needed reforms, attempting to promote good government and democracy and soothe class conflict. The following is a brief survey of the Progressive Era in California, featuring pertinent documents from the collections of the California State Archives.
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