Progressivism During The Progressive Era

This piece introduces changes that occurred during the Progressive Age. More specifically, political, cultural, and social changes in America. For example, the Sherman Anti-Trust Laws. Changing the way monopolies are for the present and the future. Then reshaping administration in our country, and lastly Theodore Roosevelt.

Progressivism, a broad idea of hopes to bring change in the social and political lives of Americans, arose around the year 1900. During this time, the social structure had troubles; for instance, female reformers organizations formed in hopes to protect women and children, the middle class felt threatened by businesses, and the contribution to political and economic decisions from all classes was inexistent. To counteract the conditions of nineteenth century American life, Jane Addams and other settlement house workers worked directly toward creating a more equitable social structure. Thus, they shaped American Progressivism by reconstructing the function of democracy to include disenfranchised Americans through prompting social and political

The Progressive Era was a time in United States history when social and political ideologies formed as a response to rapid industrialization. This period lastly roughly from 1895-1920 and is the focus of David E. Alsobrook’s article in the April 2002 issue of The Alabama Review. Alsobrook’s commentary focuses on the port city of Mobile, AL and the progressive reorganizations that occurred in the city the decades after reconstruction. He argues that the reforms of the city were caused by the influx of entrepreneurs brought by newly completed railroads. These businessmen were successful in obtaining leadership roles previously reserved for those of the gentry class (i.e. cotton plantation owners) and had different concepts of what made a successful

The 1900s was a time period filled with political corruption, social inequality and injustice, discrimination, poor working and living conditions. The progressive movement resulted in response to these issues. Members and advocates of this movement were usually white (some blacks too), middle-class, Christian, college educated women (and men). They sought to achieve social justice through equality and enhance life in America for everyone. To further the nation’s democratic ideals, they hoped to incorporate reforms based on the expectations of the majority public.

Political Changes of the Progressive Era Prior to the Progressive Era, politics was influenced by Laissez-Faire economics. This meant the government let supply and demand dictate the economy. This would lead to unregulated industry with generally poor conditions. Politics also turned a blind eye to social issues of the industrial era. This would change with the emergence of the progressive era.

Progressivism helped to change laws in business, education and social laws in many ways to include unfair labor practices, low wages, Safety laws, unsanitary food packing, separate and unequal educational opportunities, voting laws and women's rights, political corruption, Immigration laws. These things were changed because people had the courage and determination to expose those that were practicing and condoned this type of behavior. People like Upton Sinclair who wrote the book (The Jungle), W.E. B. Du bois, Booker T. Washington, and Marcus Garvey all fought for change in American Society. Women like Ida B. Wells and Susan B. Anthony fought for the equality of Women's Rights and exposed lynchings. Prior to the Progressive era, there was

The Progressive Era lasted from the 1890’s to the early 1920’s. It was centralized around socialism and political reform. One of the major changes that took place during this era, was the labor legislation. Many workers were working long shifts, for several days straight, making their work life just about unbearable, and unworkable conditions. The job environment had become to where it was unsafe, unsanitary, and unregulated conditions for very low wages.

Progressive tries to tackle many of the issues that we face today. The Progressive movement addressed the issues in factories and the liberties given to the people. With vast growth in population in concentrated areas came more technological advances. Many acts of legislation were passed during this era, especially those in the labor market. Mainly the Progressive Era had a lot of focus on the social issues of the time.

After the Civil War, our country was battered and beaten, but it rebuilt itself over time and spread its policies, as well as manufacturing practices, throughout our country. Early in the 20th century, members of our nation started to look at some of these practices and policies and began to question their merit and whether they assisted our population or not. Many people were involved in the progressive movement in America from the presidents to a slew of popular authors and photographers. The one thing that they had in common was that they saw problems with how various industries in our nation performed that they knew needed to be fixed. They did not always agree on everything, such as immigration, but they always had the nation’s best interest at heart.

When trying to define a word such as Liberalism it seems difficult to find a solid definition. There are different forms of liberalism and different meanings depending on the time period it is being applied to (idea taken from Phil Badger author from philosophynow). To solve this ambiguity, I’ve decided to define liberalism based on the time period in which I will be conducting my research. Liberalism in the 1700s was the belief of freedom and equals rights generally associated with the enlightenment thinkers, John Locke and Montesquieu (as defined by wikipedia.org). Liberalism didn’t start in the 1700s.

In the period between 1900 and 1920, the federal government and reformers were very successful in bringing social, economic, and political reform to the federal government. While not every aspect of it was successful, the rights of women, fighting against child labor and limiting the control of trusts and monopolies were three distinct successes of that time. Even before the progressive era, women challenged their place and articulated new visions of social, political and economic equality. The progressive era was a turning point for women as organizations evolved fighting for equal rights. Woman began to become very involved in a variety of reform movements.

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 progressive era which lasted from 1890-1920 in American society was the institution of radical reforms brought about by the millions of Americans involved in volunteer organizations across the country. During this time Americans worked to create solutions to the problems caused by the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the country. The progressive era was not a single movement, but rather a collection of movements all of which were intended to improve the lives of Americans. This was a truly remarkable time for women and the end of the era would see almost universal women’s suffrage with the passing of the nineteenth amendment in 1920.

As a woman you also faced many problems whether it be a hard working mother or whether it was a stay at home mom there was always worries and stress. Woman who mostly stayed home had difficult challenges of sometimes facing divorce. Progressivism was entitled to make immigration and urban growth and things like that better. As a progressive they were very organized and wanted to make the world a better living environment. They started as a social movement and ended up in a political movement.

Women in the Progressive Era The Progressive Era was a time of change across America, a time when the country chose to reform into an industrialized urban country. Prosperity was widespread across America, so people turned to social issues to try to expand. Minorities in particular became a focus of this time period, and everyone tried to find a way to integrate them into society.