ID: Progressivism (1890s-1920s)
When: 1890s-1920s
Who:
- Reformers: A diverse group including journalists (muckrakers), social workers, labor activists, politicians (e.g., Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson), and intellectuals. Specific individuals like Jane Addams (Hull House), Ida B. Wells (anti-lynching), and Upton Sinclair ( The Jungle) are important examples.
What:
A broad reform movement aimed at addressing social and political problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and political corruption. Progressives sought to improve living and working conditions, expand democracy, and regulate big business. Key areas of focus included:
- Trust-busting: Breaking up monopolies and large corporations.
- Labor reforms: Improving working conditions, wages, and hours for workers, promoting unions.
- Political reforms: Direct primary elections, initiative, referendum, recall, women’s suffrage.
- Social reforms: Settlement houses, public health initiatives, temperance movement.
- Environmental Conservation: Protecting natural resources and establishing national parks.
Impact: Why Significant?:
- Increased Government Regulation: The Progressive Era led to significant expansion of the federal government’s role in regulating the economy and society. This included the creation of regulatory agencies like the FDA and the FTC.
- Improved Working Conditions: Labor reforms resulted in shorter working hours, better wages, and improved safety standards in many industries.
- Expanded Suffrage: The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, a major victory for the women’s suffrage movement.
- Social Justice Advancements: Progress was made in areas like child labor reform, public health, and racial equality (though racial progress was limited).
- Increased Political Participation: Progressive reforms like the direct primary and initiative increased citizen involvement in the political process.
- Laying the Groundwork for the New Deal: Many of the progressive ideas and reforms laid the foundation for the New Deal programs of the 1930s.
- Rise of the Regulatory State: The Progressive Era significantly contributed to the development of a more active and interventionalist federal government, a characteristic that has persisted to this day.