The Populist Movement: The Roots Of The Progressive Movement

Progressivism was a product of the 20th century, made up mainly of middle class white women and professional men. The roots of the Progressive Movement can be traced back to the labor unions and the Populist party that formed in the late 19th century as a response to the perceived evils of industrialism. The makeup its members, as opposed to the poor immigrants and farmers that constituted both the northern labor unions, gave the Progressive Movement the muscle that it needed to create large social change. Driven by their belief that science was the key to fixing society, Progressives set out to free America from its industrial prison. In his book Triangle, David von Drehle writes, “Impelled by the belief that truth drives out error, they dedicated

Both working class and wealthy women joined together to rally and champion for union leagues, such as the Women’s Trade Union League specifically mentioned in Triangle. Leagues such as this one were fueled by the anger and injustice factory women felt toward their employers. One such worker was Clara Lemlich, a young factory worker who was “a model of a new sort of woman, hungry for opportunity and education and even equality; willing to fight the battles and pay the price to achieve it (7).” In the world Clara lived in, “men had the vote; men owned the shops…men ran the unions and political parties (7)” and she and her comrades wanted to change all of that. They knew that if they wanted to achieve change, they would have to do themselves, because male factory workers, even though they faced the same trials, often saw these women as a threat and police officers almost always sided with factory owners (12). Working women might have had the passion needed to further the Progressive Movement, but they didn’t have the finances to fund it. Luckily for them, plenty of wealthy women supported the fight for women’s equality and were willing to provide the financial backing necessary. Alva Belmont, an extraordinarily wealthy and influential socialite, “took over the women’s suffrage

Tammany Hall, the New York political machine that embodied everything Progressives were against, was one of the movement’s most vocal detractors. Tammany leaders George Plunkitt and Big Tim Sullivan both denounced Progressivism, claiming that Progressives never really accomplished anything; Plunkitt declared, ‘“A reformer can’t last in politics (21).”’ Despite their vocal denial that Progressives would actually accomplish anything, Tammany leaders were still fearful of them, especially as they gained momentum. Tammany bigwig Charles Murphy realized that he might not agree with Progressives, but they were powerful enough that he needed to work with them. Drehle writes, “Now, as Murphy perused his newspapers, he must have noticed that progressive women were being dragged to jail by Tammany cops. This was precisely the wrong image to project. Somehow, word was passed to lay off…(53).” Factory owners also disliked Progressives, and did everything in their power to prevent workers from