The Progressive Era

Jul 24, 2024

The Progressive Era

Context

  • Followed the Gilded Age
  • A movement from 1896 to 1916 addressing issues from industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption
  • Driven by the American middle class

Key Reforms and Themes

Political Corruption

  • Exposed by Muckraking journalists
  • Targeted political machines and party bosses
  • Aimed for direct democracy

Corporate Monopolies

  • Federal anti-trust laws
  • Leveled the playing field for competitors

Government Regulation

  • Formation of oversight agencies (e.g., FDA)
  • Higher regulations over manufacturers

Scientific Management (Taylorism)

  • Applied to inefficiencies in society and industry
  • Symbolized by the stopwatch

Prohibition of Alcohol

  • Targeted political bosses operating from saloons
  • Some support based on religious grounds

Women’s Suffrage

  • Advocated for female vote to purify politics

Child Labor

  • Highlighted abuses and advocated reforms

Higher Education and Social Sciences

  • Applied scientific methods
  • Replaced amateur academics with research-oriented professors

National Impact

Republican Policies

  • President Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal
    • Trust busting
    • Regulating railroads
    • Establishing national parks and forests
    • Ensuring high food and drug standards

Democratic Policies

  • President Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom
    • Conservation
    • Bank reform
    • Tariff reductions
    • Regulation of trusts

End of the Era

  • Progressive Era ended with WWI
  • Re-emerged in the Roaring 20s
  • Ended again with the stock market crash of 1929

Legacy

  • Major turning point in American modernization