The Progressive Social Movement

The second argument, Addams notion of urban house-keeping, pointed out that political enfranchisement would further women’s role in cleaning up immoral cities and corrupt politics. The third expedient argument reflected urban middle-class reformers’ prejudice against non-Protestant immigrants who voted”(476). Carrie Chapman Catt who was Anthony’s predecessor as the president of the NAWSA, secured the vote for women in 192, achieving the most important

“The League of Women Voters was founded in 1920 by members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping women use their newly established right to vote to influence the public policy arena” (Shulte 1). Though women had gotten the right to vote their fight was not over, they still had much to do. The League of Women Voters opted to become a government organization that focused on the issues of all citizens instead of just women (Shulte 1). Women were not the only people that needed a step up in the world and the League tried to help all of the minorities. Gender provided a useful category for the League’s member activism in the mid-twentieth century.

Along with the Progressive reformers came their ideas of the different types of issues within the social and political environments. Many of the major issues, such as dangerous working conditions, extreme inequality of wealth, and corruption within the government of the United States were explored by them. These issues affected many of the Progressive reformers because of the fact that most of them made up the working middle class. They believed that using the ways of the government would allow for change to the environment, education, and the workplace to be made. According to the Progressive

“The “new women”, included flappers, embraced new fashion, embraced freedom, and challenged the old ways of the modern women. ”(Mckay, Nellie). The “modern women”, believed that partying , smoking, and disobeying your husband was horrifying, and unacceptable. Women were impacted by the Harlem Renaissance, because they were produced with the idea of mass advertising. With mass advertising women were able to be the voices on radios, the faces on magazines, and the author of books.

The Progressive era became an iconic time that would not exist if the U.S. was not a democracy. Individuals became empowered to change after seeing all the problems that industrialization created. Progressive era reformers in the late 19th to the early 20th century believed in constructing a new order to improve American welfare. During the progressive movement many progressives such as Robert F. La Follete and Jane Addams sought to generate reform for fairness and to enhance moral values. As a civic duty, progressives such as W.E.B Du Bois fought against the racial injustice in America as well as establish a new order to create a more virtuous society.

Women Suffrage movement began more active after 1894. For example, “In New York City, Josephine Shaw Lowell and Mary Putnam Jacobi formed the Woman Municipal League." (Dubois, 189) This organization was primary focusing on the corruption of public. “By the early 1900s, moreover, the spirit of political reform in New York City spread beyond the elite.”

The Progressive Era was an important time period from 1890s-1920s in American History was when the United States needed to change things up to improve the American culture. It was believed that the problems they faced, such as poverty, violence, racism, etc., could be fixed by providing good education, a efficient workplace, and a safe environment. Although one could say that the progressives were unsuccessful at changing their goals, they really were successful because the rights of the women changes, and the views on the working conditions increased. The change in women’s rights was one of the biggest successes in the Progressive Era.

Anthony wanted to persuade her listeners on why women should have the right to vote. The Federal Constitution is referenced in Anthony’s speech as proof of equality. Anthony wanted her audience to grasp the feeling of being provided a document that granted your freeness, your rights, however unable to use it because of your sex and color of skin. Anthony uses the creation of the Federal Constitution to contradict the unlawfulness of women voting. Susan felt “And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government -- the ballot.”

Moral improvement occurred when reformers wanted immigrants and poor city dwellers to uplift themselves by improving their moral behavior (Danzer 513). A women 's group from Cleveland, the Women 's Christian Temperance Union, believed that alcohol undermined morals and led to bad behavior (Fagnilli 29). They believed the way to complete the moral goal was to make the country a “dry” country. Another prohibitionist group was the Anti Saloon League. This group endorsed politicians who supported banning alcohol, and organized state reform to try to ban alcohol.

Direct election was another great thing in politics during the Progressive Era because it made way for the 17th amendment so it helped Americans have a say in politics. Eventually women had their own reform too; the National American Suffrage Association formed by Elizabeth C. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony one of the leaders of women suffrage. Both women were able to pave the way for the 19th Amendment giving women to right to vote in

Anthony also is a famous person, Anthony and a few other leaders of the women 's suffrage movement led women to gain voting right, suffrage means the right to vote, during this time many women didn 't have that opportunity to do so, Anthony, who 's also a women didn 't find it fair that men got to vote and women did 't. Anthony saw this as an issue, she decided that she would fight for her rights as a women and wanted to get her voting rights. She ends up being successful in 1920, the 19th amendment is passed, this led to women getting to vote, which helped change America, without Anthony most, if not all women wouldn 't be able to vote, she gave every women out there an

In a time where suffering took place to gain suffrage, women were willing to make any sacrifice necessary to achieve equality. In America during the 20th century, tensions were high between many societal groups and classes. During that time, justice and equality were familiar yet misunderstood concepts to many Americans, and change was forthcoming. Societal change is the shift from night to day, and from day back to night; unavoidable and frequent. One such unavoidable change was the suffrage for all genders, races, religions, and free peoples in the United States of America.

The Progressive Movement, which took place in the late 19th and early 20th century, started as social reform and morphed into a political platform. Religious groups, reporters and political activists all rallied around causes that they believed effected people who were weaker than those in power. Progressives wanted to improve social welfare and reform corrupt corporate and government practices. On the local, state, and federal level; progressivism provided the stage for public advocacy. The Progressive Movement is responsible for many of the reforms that affect our health, safety, and voice in the government.

Modern conservatives in American opposed the New Deal and the “postwar liberal” legacies of the New Deal. Conservatives sought to restrict government activism with the goal of maximizing economic and personal freedom for both individuals and businesses. The New Deal defined modern liberalism in addition to providing post war conservatism with its mission to stop liberalism social programs and the progressive tax policies that paid for them. Race and states’ rights continued to haunt the New Deal in the Old South. The discrimination of gender increased as modern conservatives believed it only harmed women.

Introduction The progressive era was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States that flourished from the 1890’s through the 1920’s. This was a very significant time period due to the fact that it included purification of the government, modernization, focus on family and education, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. Key Vocabulary