Progressivism In The 19th And Early 20th Century

During the latter part of the nineteenth century, presumably around the 1890's, it became known as the Progressive Era, a time of change, reform, and adaptation. As Vernon L. Parrignton put it, it was a "democratic renaissance" (Vernon L. Parrington in The Progressive Movement: Liberal or Conservative). So what was Progressivism? Well, its main goals were to curb corporate power, to end business monopolies, and to wipe out political corruption. They also wanted to democratize electoral procedures, protect working people, and bridge the gap between social classes. They called for reforms such as the referendum, initiative, and the recall. They wanted the Americanization of the immigrant and the

The 19th century was considered a fundamental age of progress in science and technology. The European region was also trying to make progress in different ways. Most of the nations in Europe experienced relative peace and prosperity. The development came about partly due to conservative and liberal ideologies. In the initial part of the 19th century, conservative notions were more pronounced in Europe than any other century. In 1815, conservative ideas were substantially expressed in the Congress of Vienna (1). It witnessed a series of meeting to decide the appropriate strategies to adopt so as to clear the mess witnessed in the Napoleonic wars. The meetings attracted representatives from the Quadruple Alliance countries (Austria, Russia,

Progressivism began in the early 1900s. It had roots in several earlier movements such as the Liberal Republican and the Mugwumps. Progressivism centered in cities. Progressives were middle class and well educated. Progressives stayed in the political mainstream. They aimed not to remake American society, but to merely make the existing system work better and to do this they were willing to make compromises. Progressivism offered the middle class, business leader, and farmers a safe reform. By 1900 the American economy was strong. As a result people of all classes felt more confident and more willing to compromise. Progressives made city and state governments more democratic. They also tightened regulations on business. For Progressives, honest and efficient government was an important goal, but not the ultimate one. They saw government as a tool to be used to promote the welfare of all citizens. Regulating business was, for both city and state governments, a major part of that task. Progressives passed more laws aiming at protecting various groups, especially children.

From the time of 1890- 1920 was the progressive era. In this time the American people experienced a very rapid industrialization in their major cities, where it grew not only with industrializing but economically as well. In this time we adopted many laws about working conditions that we still have today. For example, the government adopted laws about Jacob Riis and the photos he took, child labor, and women's suffrage movements. In the next few paragraphs I will explain to you why these three subjects are some of the most important things that happened in this time period.

Throughout America's history, there have been numerous social and political movements that have had a profound and lasting impact on American culture. Movements such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Suffrage Movement have influenced and shaped American ideals and beliefs. These movements were typically driven by a cause. From the 1890s to the 1920s, a period of social and political reform flourished in America. This was driven by the desire to eliminate corruption in the government. People wanted to have a positive impact on society and they wanted to speak up for what they believed in. This era was a pivotal turning point in the history of the United States. This era was known as the Progressive Era.

The term Progressivism implies a philosophy that promotes change/reform in the current political, economic, and social aspects of society while conservatism stresses gradual change in society but promotes tradition rather than change. The Progressive movement from 1901 to 1917 worked to improve aspects of society that grew out of problems which occurred during the Industrial Age. The goals of the "Progressives" were to stop monopolies, corruption, inefficiency and social injustices. Both progressive acts and amendments were being passed to deal with social ills, corruption in politics and corporate America. The period from 1901-1917 was more a victory for liberalism, mainly "modern liberalism", than a triumph of conservatism due to the

Progressivism generally took two forms: Political and Social reform.What most social reformers found was that they could not rely on people doing the “right” and “moral” thing all the time. If law is going to be used for social reform, who is going to make the law? Politicians. However, politics and politicians were seen as a big part of the problem, not the solution, therefore, Progressives seen that the future for a new America ultimately depended on changing the government and politics.

The Reformers During the early of nineteenth century, Americans began to created machines and technologies to help early of people. Machines and technologies make people’s life easier, save much more labor, and also help the economic boost. As the time went by, the way people’s life changes as well as the way people thought. In order to had a better sociality for Americans; many reformer thought that they shall abolish or change certain social issues to.

Progressivism shaped the United States in so many ways. The progressivism era lasted from 1890-1920, and began after the effect of industrialization and urbanization the era was intended to be a political movement reforming the United States political, social and economy. Progressivism began to emerge as the national movement when the era started to eliminate all of the negative aspects that would effect the country in a negative way. For example progressivism era began by getting rid of all the government corruptions that occurred during the urbanization era. Also began to end women’s suffrage and social welfare, prohibition, and civil liberties. The progressivism era began to create women suffrage associations so that women would have equal rights to voting and working. Direct primary was the reform that allowed people the power to choose who they wanted in office. The progressive public health initiatives and universal education really was an advantage to everyone especially the poor and foreigners. The goals for progressivism was to help make better working conditions so that it will be less poverty and better living conditions ending big businesses so that the American life would be improved. In order to insure that working conditions became better a workers compensation law was passed meaning companies had to buy insurance for their workers safety if anyone was to get injured on the job. One of

Progressivism is defined as an early 20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people to restore economic opportunities and to correct injustices in American life. During this time period, certain aspects of American life were in need of drastic change, so progressives led the charge towards reforming American society and politics. Among these aspects, social and political conditions were some of the most heavily reformed, involving women’s rights, and corruption.

Even though the country was continuing to flourish, minorities and women were treated as unfit to be citizens. Times were oppressive for those individuals who just wanted to be equal. Several movements spawn from this prejudice era. One of the main movements commonly talked about would be the feminist movement. As society progressed a foundation was put in place that often left out the rights of women. Feelings of unfairness fueled the fire, pushing women activist to fight for their rights such as voting, fair wages, sexuality, and equality. Women felt that men were the cause of their suffrage. Placing a negative connotation on the masculine role as a whole.

According to The Elanor Roosevelt Papers (2014) progressivism is the term applied to a variety of responses to the economic and social problems rapid industrialization introduced to America. To understand this one must first understand the economic and social problems which had been brought on. The Industrial Revolution brought an increase in population and urbanization, as well as new social classes. The recently urbanized found themselves in poor living conditions, often eight to ten people would share one room. Sleeping in the same bed was common for families and single people alike. Houses were built in rows with a common courtyard, which hopefully held a water tap and common toilet. Families worked together men, women and children alike.

When discussing the primary driving forces that effect progressivism, we can determine that there are many labels that define these movements. From lower class personnel responding to rapid industrialization by adjusting their impoverished circumstances, to the governments becoming more corrupt while trying to deal with the same issues. One simply cannot place all of the different movements that are taking place during this era underneath one umbrella because they all have their own great importance’s. For example, we have the exploitation of all lower class laborers; men, women, and children, as well as, the extremely unsanitary living conditions that would fall under its own driven force. We can also agree that most of the progressive

Brown argues that progressivism is an “inadequate concept,” because of how shaky the definition is. Throughout the years of 1900-1913, the definition and use of the word changed depending on who was using the term, and what they stood for. Each politician who claimed to be progressive, used it in a way that would put them in a more favorable light in the eyes of others, but the meaning of progressive was not clear and often used lightly. Also most politicians who used this term used it in a way that viewed big corporate businesses as the enemy of the people, even though most of the, had been a part of it at one time or another, making them contradict what they say they stand for.

Before progressivism society was made up of a segmented society or an Island community. These communities were not linked and relied on themselves. Through industrialization, immigration, and transportation. Island communities started to coalition which brought an end to segmented society. Progressivism carried a huge part in the end of an old era and starting another. Their goal was to improve society and eliminate the corrupt government. Progressivism did this through creating a society where everyone worked together to create a seamless society. They did this through eliminating culture uniqueness, improving future generations, and establishing consumerism.