Progressive Movement in America Changed the Way America Worked and Lived

¶ … Progressivism began as a social movement and evolved into a political movement, according to materials published by George Washington University (www.gwu.edu). Early in the social movement progressives were concerned about poverty, racism, greed and "class warfare," and they believed that those problems could be best addressed through education, a safer environment, and a workplace that was fair and safe (www.gwu.edu). Who were those considered to be progressives? The George Washington University narrative explains that they live "mostly in the cities," they had graduated from colleges and universities, and their beliefs included the belief that "…government could be a tool for change" -- and among the most vocal and visible social reformers / progressives were Jane Addams and journalists Jacob Riis and Ida Tarbel (www.gwu.edu).

Progressive journalists wrote investigative pieces that exposed "the evils of corporate greed" and they presented a balanced view of immigration and ethnicities, all the time "…urging Americans to think hard about what democracy meant" (www.gwu.edu). And the most progressive of U.S. presidents in the progressive era was Theodore Roosevelt (TR), who believed strongly in the value that corporations offered to the nation -- jobs, products, consumer choices -- but he also believed that "corporate behavior must be watched to ensure that corporate greed did not get out of hand" (www.gwu.edu).

Professor and author Burt Folsom writes that the first two progressive presidents were TR and Woodrow Wilson, and he gives the nod to TR and Wilson because, he writes, they both had a "mutual desire to use the state to redistribute wealth" (www.burtFolsom.com, 2011). Digging deeper into the history of the progressive era, Folsom's points appear to be too narrow and focused on an ideology (distribution of wealth) that Folsom disagrees with rather on the reality of that era. Folsom ignored the fact that Wilson was racist, the opposite of being progressive. James Loewen (Lies My Teacher Told Me) writes that as for education in America, Wilson said he wanted "…one class of persons to have a liberal education" (meaning white and affluent people) and "…another class of persons…to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks" (meaning African-Americans). "Wilson was an outspoken white supremacist who believed black people were inferior" (Loewen, p. 20).

Folsom is right, however, that TR was progressive, but Folsom misses the main points of TR's progressivism. In fact TR launched a campaign in which he prosecuted monopolies under the Sherman Antitrust Act; he also developed the "Square Deal," a progressive program that "…enhanced reform of the American workplace" and concerned his administration with "consumer protection (www.biography.com). Moreover, his "civil rights record is notable," he supported desegregation and women's suffrage" (www.biography.com).

Why did TR advocate reforms and what were his proposals? After he was defeated by William Howard Taft in 1912, TR founded the "National Progressive Party," which viewed America as favoring the rich and powerful and ignoring the needs of the rest of the population. TR advocated the following reforms (according to the book American Progressivism: A Reader): a) to "dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics"; b) probation of child labor, an 8-hour workday, safety and health standards for workers, and minimum wages for women workers; c) establishment of "social insurance" (forerunner of Social Security); and d) protection / conservation of national forests (TR launched the National Parks system) and agricultural lands (Pestritto, Ronald J, and Atto, William, 2008).

What was America like during the Gilded Age? A peer-reviewed article in the International Journal of History and Archaeology reflects that the Gilded Age: a) went through "tremendous growth of the production and consumption of manufactured goods"; b) saw the growth of urban population; c) color and gender lines in labor markets were "hardened"; and d) the telegraph, railways and steamships changed transportation (Paynter, 2012, 776-777). It was also a time of "conspicuous consumption" by the very rich (1% of Americans owned 51% of the wealth) and the new rich became a "cult of ostentatious display" (Paynter, 777). Moreover, the Gilded Age was a time of: a) "mass commodity production and consumption"; b) explosive growth in the use of "petroleum fuels and electricity"; c) "industrial and financial corporations with legal rights that rival those of individuals"; and d) "boom-bust economics…environmental degradation of increasingly global proportions" (Paynter, 781).

What benefit did the progressive movement bring to Americans? To what extent was the nation altered by their proposals? An article in the Public Broadcast Service (PBS) explains that leaders like Eleanor Roosevelt provided a good example of progressivism; assist hospitals, be kind to the poor, don't neglect philanthropic duties, accept change and try to limit the power of big business (PBS). Women were still for the most part prevented from entering politics or getting corporate jobs, but they were being educated by new women's colleges and they used their education to engage in "association building" (they formed the Women's Trade Union League; the Women's Christian Temperance Union; and the National Consumers League). They also launched "settlement houses" which helped to teach immigrants "proper housekeeping," which promoted civic reforms -- and the settlement houses influenced progressive child labor laws and legislation that allowed factories to be inspected for violation of human rights and rules (PBS), p. 2).

In Michael McGerr's book, A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, he explains that progressive movement sought to "…reshape adult behavior," by trying to ban liquor, getting rid of prostitution and "…trying to improve the living conditions of workers," which they did help (McGerr, 2010, 79). Overall, the progressive movement drew some of its strength from "…a powerful current of environmentalist thought" that was "flowing through turn-of-the-century America"; and Wisconsin's progressive U.S. Senator Robert La Follette believed that "…many crimes grow directly out of the sins and the injustices of society," and he believed in reform for those reasons (McGerr, 81).

Did the nation become kinder and gentler because of the progressive movement? It could be argued that yes, the nation did become kinder and gentler because child labor was abolished; antitrust actions on the part of TR broke up some of the monopolies; and more: referendums and recall laws were enacted; consumer protection laws were passed; cabinet offices for the Departments of Commerce and Labor were created.

What do some historians have to say about the progressives? Moreover, the "…fundamental critical achievement of American Progressivism was the business of exposure, and journalism was the chief occupational source of its creative writers" (Hofstadter, 2011). Author Richard Hofstadter points out that without a more assertive brand of journalism (sometimes called muckraking), many reforms would not have taken place. In fact Hofstadter believes that the "progressive mind was characteristically a journalistic mind," and responsible reporters -- just as they are today -- were "socially responsible…reformers" (187). There was a pervasiveness of graft" in America that needed to be exposed, and since the 1870's, Hofstadter writes, "exposure had been a recurrent theme in American political life" (187).