Progressive Era Ideas

The Progressive Era won women the right to vote.

The Progressive Movement was one of the most fruitful eras in American political history. Its dates are roughly 1890 to 1920. It began as a response to the social problems produced by industrialism and the increasing power of unregulated capitalism. The Progressive Era appealed to a wide spectrum of the public: the working class, middle class and some of the business elite such as Henry Ford. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson both adopted and implemented Progressive ideas. The goal of the Progressive Movement was not the rejection of capitalism but to create a more human version of capitalism in which all flourished and no one lives in poverty.

Political Reform

The Progressive Era is synonymous with the Age of Reform. One of the central ideas was the need for a more hands-on approach by government, at local, state, and national levels, to social problems. A key idea is that government has a moral obligation to care for the welfare of its citizens. The rapid changes produced by the Industrial Revolution changed the social and working environment for the majority of workers, especially the ones living in urban populations. Urban poverty, appalling working conditions, political corruption and alcohol abuse were among the problems addressed by the Progressive Era. Progressive leaders helped to pass legislation that addressed all of these issues. Women's suffrage and the direct election of senators was also a result of the Progressive Movement.

Education

One of the central themes in the Progressive Era was education. An educated and enlightened public is a necessary prerequisite for the modern, democratic vision that the Progressive Era hoped to achieve. On the practical level, progressive leaders help to implement local, state, and national legislation to improve the quality of schools as well as increasing the number of schools. A large part of the effort focused on overcrowded urban populations. Educational reforms extended to the academic environment of the university as well. The development of the social sciences; sociology, economics, political science and history in American universities are a direct result of Progressive ideas affecting the university. American intellectual leaders and scholars such as John Dewey and W.E.B. Dubois emphasized the social and moral responsibilities of the academy.

Social Injustice

The Progressive Era, in part, was a reaction and rejection to ideas of Social Darwinism that were popular in the last part of the 19th century. Social Darwinism was a distorted interpretation of Darwin's theories of evolution and natural selection. The Social Darwinist adopted Darwin's theories as an explanatory model for the social world. In short, the result was a justification for urban poverty and social injustices. The detrimental effects produced by growing industrialism, the increasing power of capital and the need for larger cities were regarded as inevitable, and perhaps even desirable. The Progressive Era, regarded the detrimental effects as the direct result of greed, conscious policy making and intentional neglect and failure to address the public good.

Investigative Journalism

Writers and journalists played an essential role motivating popular support for the Progressive Era. Popular magazines such as McClure's and Collier's Weekly had a wide circulation and exposed waste, corruption and scandal. The magazines provided specific details about the underside of American life and the living conditions of the working poor. Jacob Riis was a photojournalist whose work shocked the public. His book "How the Other Half Lives," published in 1890, documented the abject living conditions of the urban poor. Upton Sinclair's novel "The Jungle," published in 1906, revealed the seedy side of the meat-packing industry and the working and living conditions of the workers. Theodore Roosevelt coined the name "muckraker" to describe the investigative journalists of the day. They focused on a variety of topics such as profiteering, the power of local bosses, the abuses of child labor, alcohol abuse, public health and safety and political corruption.

References

• National Humanities Center: The Social Gospel and the Progressive Era
• Academic American: The Progressive Era The Great Age of Reform