Progressive Era reform and government as moral agent in early twentieth century society

¶ … motivated progressives and how they began to use the government as a moral agent for change and the impact of Progressivism upon society and government during the early decades of the 20th century. The central question that will be addressed will be to answer to what extent he Progressive Era was actually progressive. In particular, we will pay attention to the limits of progressive reforms in the history of the United States. Progressives fought for such issues as women's suffrage and better labor and health regulations (Rodgers, 1982, 115).

Progressivism in America was a broad-based movement for reform that reached its apogee in the early 20th century. While reformist in nature, it was middle class. It grew in response to the changes brought on by industrialism, modernization (for example the rise of the railroads) and corruption in American politics. Largely, it grew in response to tragedies such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. This deadly fire in New York City which broke out on March 25, 1911, has gone down in history deservedly as the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and one of the worst in U.S. history. Most of the victims were composed of recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women, including child laborers Such disasters spurned a good amount of pressure for reform of labor and consumer laws to make industrial society safe for women and children (Rosa, 2010).

Additionally, middle class Americans were clued into the underlying ugly realities of American industrialization by the "muckraking" press that was composed of a core of reporters who exposed these injustices in gruesome detail. For instance, Upton Sinclair's epic The Jungle exposed the horrible unsanitary practices as well as labor practices in the meatpacking industry. What is interesting about the Jungle is that it is a case study in the effectiveness as well as the limitations of Progressivism in the United States. Sinclair, a socialist, hoped that by exposing the horrible labor practices (that would include sanitary conditions) that is would lead everyone to demand socialism. Instead, it only lead to outcry for reform sanitation in the meatpacking industry. According to the distraught Sinclair, he had aimed for the nation's heart and instead hit its stomach. Ironically, President Theodore Roosevelt had coined the term "muckraker." Due to the popularity of the book and the furor it raised, he called Sinclair to speak about the book's revelations. The revelations were investigated, found to be correct, and within two months Congress drafted and passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 to curb the abuses ("Muckrakers," 2011).

Progressivism was not communism, socialism or anarchism. Rather, it was a pragmatic, primarily middle class movement that was consumer based and sought to make life safer for women and children. The worst excesses of industrialism were to be curbed, not so much in a move to help the poor, but to maintain public order. In other words, American family life was made safer by protecting the vulnerable members of society (primarily women and children) from these excesses so that there could be a more quiescent and peaceful society. IN this author's opinion, it was pragmatic than progressive.