The Progressive Reform Movement Many Historians have different views on how history events occurred. The Progressive Reform movement is a common event historians talk about. Historians have had conflict about who the progressives were, who they represented, and who the reformers envisioned. A few historians who have given their opinion on the Progressive Reform Movement are George mowry, Joseph Huthmacher, and Robert Wiebe. Many historians thought that the progressives came from the middle class. George Mowry asserted that the progressives were “self made men” mostly coming from wealthy families. A group of wealthy families helped make up the millionaires reform movement. Although, he thought reforms from the middle class made up the majority. …show more content…
He also believed that the urban lower class was a past participle to Progressivism in areas with high population. Some of these areas are in New York and Massachusetts. In these areas, Huthmacher thinks the lower class contributes more than the middle class. He says, “They provided an active, numerically strong, and politically necessary force for reform—this class was as important as the urban middle class”(Huthmacher). He believed that the lower class knew conditions of life “on the other side of the tracks”. Huthmacher conveys that liberalism of Americans made the type of political system they were wanting. He asserted that the government got involved because of how the lower class portrayed their rights and voted for legislation. The low class was looking for improvement for working conditions. He provided job security, better wages and working conditions, and gave some benefits of production to consumers. “As a result, we find urban lower-class representatives introducing a large variety of business regulatory measures on the local and state levels during the Progressive Era”(Huthmacher 13). Huthmacher portrayed it was important for each group to be a part of …show more content…
He describes most people as living in “island communities”. This is where people tied each other to geography because they all knew each other. The ending of these “island communities” were because of migration, industrialization, and urbanization. He conveys that it caused people to want to reform their own new world. He finds that the reformers are divided among voluntary associations such as, cities, states, and the federal government. They exercised this by new members of middle class because they were eager to take control of their largely expanding world. Wiebe argues that all of the reformers shared a love of organization and
"Everyone is so, not only ourselves here--the things that existed before are no longer valid, and one practically knows them no more.distinctions, breeding, education are changed, are almost blotted out and hardly recognizable any longer. Sometimes they give an advantage for profiting by a situation;--but they also bring consequences along with them, in that they arouse prejudices which have to be overcome. It is as though formerly we were coins of different provinces; and now we are melted down, and all bear the same stamp. To rediscover the old distinctions, the metal itself must be tested. First we are soldiers and afterwards, in a strange and shamefaced fashion, individual men as well."
Reformists wished for people in office to be morally responsible. I believe it is important that reformists didn’t entirely shy away from politics. Instead, they learned how to use persuasion to make more change in the right direction. The reformists conformed to the way of gaining followers because it seemed like the only way to work. They made alcohol and slavery a major issue in politics and were able to stop postal workers from working on
These historians all concur that the Progressives were seeking a reformed society where misconduction doesn’t exist. Even though all 3 historians had very similar viewpoints, Huthmacher has a better rendition of Progressivism in his “Urban Liberalism and the Age of Reform” is the most compelling because
“The Progressive movement of 1901 to 1971 was a triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism,” is a false statement implying that the Progressive movement was not liberal win when it very much was. The progressive movement allowed for all types of government reforms and policies that are all very liberal in a sense. With the Progressives, the laissez-faire government that allowed for many businesses to run free will no longer exist and regulations of all kinds of business will be put into place. The three presidents to reside in the White House during this era, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, all shared at least one point of view with liberals. The progressive era is the era of the liberals.
Throughout the history of the US, there were many movements and acts that emphasize the rights, justice, and equality of every US citizen, they were needed to push the society move forward. There were some that failed after a long time because of lacking supports from the people, but there also many movements that were so successful that changed the whole way how the US handles Democracy and its people rights. Those movements were maybe not last for a long time but were needed to show everyone that the power and wealth of a nation come through its citizen, and each person has the power to fight for their happiness and equality. In many righteous acts that the people have started, there were two acts that made an enormous change to the US political and economic system, not only they improve the people lives, they were also the main reason why America is such promising and full of opportunities to the eyes of many immigrants. Those two are The Populist Movement and The Progressive era.
During the late nineteenth century, inequality was at its finest. Disagreements from unrightful decisions made by the government set off strikes, reforms and protests, which accelerated changes, all over the country. Oppression of farmers and wage workers hit hardest, as government decisions and how the country was running seemed to affect them the most. Gilded age farmers and workers demanded correct wages, the expansion of power of the government, and to nationalize various systems in the best interests of the people. Various interest groups were created, and aimed to gain popularity but were not successful enough to make a change.
The progressive reformers were mostly middle class families during the early 19 hundreds. These reformers believed that every kid had the right to childhood so that they could develop into well rounded functioning adults. The middle class focused mostly on the poor who tended to be immigrants whose kids did not get to live in ideal situations. During this time the middle class had less kids which gave the kids more space in a figurative and literal sense and allowed them to have more resources from their parents and more time to pursue their interests. The poor classes did not have less kids, and they were forced to live in small apartments that were crowded and had poor air ventilation and septic system that lead to an increase in disease.
Populism and Progressivism were two very important movements in US history, that occurred during the outbreaks of the workers union after the civil war. These movements led to the formation of the Populist party in 1892 and the Progressive party in 1912. While there are many similarities between the two movements, they are also very different. The two parties fought for very similar things.
People had both the right and the duty to make whatever changes were necessary to come up with a new government or new reforms to that government to better serve their needs. This is basically was the mindset of the people who believed that reform was need in society. The Second Great Awakening refers to a period of religious revivals at occurred in the United States in the 1830s. After this period, many reform movements took place to better serve society and the people in it.
The “Progressive Movement was an early-20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunity, and to correct injustices in American life.” (Danzer R54). The Progressive Era marked the end of the “Gilded Ages” and a start of a new era. The Progressive Era started in 1901 in the United States (Fagnilli 26). There were many major reforms in the Progressive Era that altered and advanced American society.
The 19th century was a period of widespread social, economical and political problems in the United States, from the 1890s to the 1920s in need of reform. Both parties were created by the people’s dissatisfaction with the government and its ability to appeal to the majority. The Populist movement was founded my farmers, laborers and middle class civilians that wanted government regulation in the economy, more authority in the government, educating immigrants, to prevent government corruption and high positions to be based on experience.
Question 1. The progressive period in US history started in the 1890s and remained current through the 1920s. Progressive leaders in the US include President Teddy Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft, and President Woodrow Willson. The main objective of progressives was to rid the government of corruption. These progressive leaders targeted political machines and worked to rid the country of monopolistic enterprises that were exploiting regular citizens.
Wiebe’s viewed reformers had an overall want for better social and political reforms (like many other
Slowly, the public sphere soon includes the non-upper class as people like Thomas Payne and the Founding Fathers and essays like The Federalist Papers are written for and understood by the commoners. It was a bit of a shock to those in
Change takes places everywhere, everyday. If we as humans experience change on a daily basis, it should be no surprise that even “The Land of the Free” must eventually evolve. A Fierce Discontent by Yale alumni Indiana University historian and Michael McGerr documents this change that spread throughout America, which is known as the Progressive Movement. Michael McGerr believed that “the people and struggles of that age of “fierce discontent” a century ago still command our attention” (McGerr, xiii), which sheds a little light as to why he chose to write about the Progressive Era. It was social and political reform and activism that made up the Progressive Era and