The Progressive Movement In The 19th Century

The predecessor of Roosevelt stated, “He criticizes me because I prosecuted the Standard Oil Company and the Tobacco Company through to the Supreme Court and got decrees there.” Both Roosevelt and Taft had well thought out campaigns that eventually morphed into attempts to turn the people

Between the 1890s and World War One, reform efforts started taking place by the progressives. The progressives were not a single unified group and even had some contradicting goals. They were middle class urban dwellers and some were women. The progressives wanted to end prostitution, Americanize immigrants, antitrust legislation created, women’s suffrage, and the start of prohibition.

After Roosevelt’s two terms, William H. Taft came as his successor. Roosevelt had put his trust into Taft that he would carry on with all the policies Roosevelt had yet been able to put into action before his time was up, but Taft had done exactly the opposite. Taft reversed many of Roosevelt’s policies which could be called a battle won on the conservatives end, but soon after Taft began to try and lower tariffs. Taft ended up splitting the Republican party up which helped the Democratic party greatly in the election of 1912 when Woodrow Wilson won the presidency. Wilson was a great asset to the progressive cause, fighting against the four privileges: wealth, banks, tariffs, and trusts.

He ended special privileges that large corporations received. He broke up the Northern Security Railroad monopoly by exercising the Sherman Antitrust act and started suits against Standard Oil and U.S Steel. President Roosevelt had become a progressive “trust-buster” (Square

During the late 1800’s a seemingly impossible uphill battle for equality and rights gained a new ally in the Progressive Movement, whose main goal was to enact reform in a practical, plausible way. Before this Movement social conditions were worsening across the United States and inequality in politics ran rampant, to spread the news of this new forms of media and campaigning arose, and after the Progressive Movement ran its course it left a drastic imprint on the history of American reform. This era is famous for its changes and philosophies that governed America and its people such as the argument between Conservationists and Preservationists or the issue of tariffs that had persisted since the birth of the United States, but what the Progressive

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, a large and diverse number of Americans claimed the political label “Progressive.” Progressives all shared a common fundamental belief of developing methods to counteract against the political and social issues of the time. They thrived in tackling some of the most crucial issues of society, as they were able to improve the conditions of the urban environment, increase the democratic influence of citizens, and sap most corruption out of the government. However, as the Progressive Movement successfully managed to cover those areas, it was limited to solving the issues of only white Americans, failing to represent the minorities, especially African Americans.

T.R. was the first president during this time, one of the things he did during his time as president was the Meat Inspection Act, which came after Muckrakers wrote that the meat factories were running a very poor business. Roosevelt didn’t believe them so he had people go check it out and see if it was true, when the came back they approved it

Progressivism was a product of the 20th century, made up mainly of middle class white women and professional men. The roots of the Progressive Movement can be traced back to the labor unions and the Populist party that formed in the late 19th century as a response to the perceived evils of industrialism. The makeup its members, as opposed to the poor immigrants and farmers that constituted both the northern labor unions, gave the Progressive Movement the muscle that it needed to create large social change. Driven by their belief that science was the key to fixing society, Progressives set out to free America from its industrial prison. In his book Triangle, David von Drehle writes, “Impelled by the belief that truth drives out error, they dedicated

The Progressive Movement was an effort to cure the many ailments that plagued American society. The frontier had been tamed, great cities and businesses developed, and territories across the globe had been conquered, but not all citizens shared in this new found wealth, prestige, and optimism. With the great spurt of industrial growth in the last quarter of the 19th century, agriculture was not the great driving force it once was for the American economy. This alienated a vast majority of the midwestern towns, which could include Spoon River, whose livelihood would have likely been depended on the cultivation of crops. In an attempt to try and recapture the pureness of simpler times many turned to religion.

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.

Roosevelt took his power to control the way of life of the Americans. So, many concerned Americans discern these actions as a problem to their right to be free. In fact, the New Deal actions were affecting and taking the American freedom. Roosevelt practiced his power to manipulate the economy and to command people, assimilating himself as the highest authority. Therefore, people started to see Roosevelt’s campaign as the communist party, by trying to control the system.

As President, Roosevelt held the perfect that the Government ought to be the extraordinary referee of the clashing financial compels in the Nation, particularly in the middle of capital and work, ensuring equity to every and administering favors to none. Roosevelt developed breathtakingly as a "trust buster" by driving the disintegration of an incredible railroad blending in the Northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act took after. Roosevelt steered the United States more actively into world politics. He liked to quote a favorite proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick. . . .

After the Civil War, women were willing to gain the same rights and opportunities as men. The war gave women the chance to be independent, to live for themselves. Women’s anger, passion, and voice to protest about what they were feeling was the reason of making the ratification of the 19th amendment, which consisted of giving women the right to vote. One of the largest advancement of that era was the women’s movement for the suffrage, which gave them the reason to start earning

The women’s rights movement being an extensive movement helped women to occupy better jobs and higher positions “Increased access to leadership positions is an important achievement because – in terms of gender – the field is more level now: some women will be allies, some are not, but no one is excluded only for being a woman”. Today, women can choose to occupy the jobs that were once titled only for men and they have an equal employment opportunity “Because of workplace rights, women enjoy freedom to work in almost any position they choose. They join the armed forces, work as cab drivers, own businesses and become executives in large corporations” Women can now become ministers, juries, senates, and even the president “1975 — In Taylor v. Louisiana, the court denies states the right to exclude women from juries….1981 — Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed as the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice… 1997 — Madeleine Albright is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State. She is the first woman in this position.”