The Seventeenth Amendment And The Voting Process During The Gilded Age

During the Progressive era, the role of our federal government was being rethought—the “…traditional assumption that a powerful government posed a threat to freedom” (Foner 699) was beginning to be rejected. During this time, citizens of the United States began to realize that they needed more political freedom in order to obtain a government that worked for and with them, not one that was overrun by corporate mongrels as seen during the Gilded Age. As a step towards change, in early 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified, and it was something that would expand political freedom like never before. The Seventeenth Amendment changed our election process—senators would now be chosen by popular vote instead of directly by state legislators. In addition to this, some states even introduced the systems of initiative, referendum, and recall. The three allowed voters to “…propose

For the first time in our nation’s short history, citizen’s voices were beginning to have more and more of an influence on our governing body. However, during this era, political freedoms were also being restricted. Despite the Fifteenth Amendment granting the right to vote to all male citizens, some—specifically those who were black or poor—were discouraged or even barred from voting due to “…literacy tests and residency and registration requirements” (Foner 701). Despite gaining political freedoms during the Progressive era, many were still restricted from doing so.
Much like political freedoms, there were also expansions and restrictions of economic freedoms during the Progressive Era as well.