EXPLAIN THE VARIOUS TENETS

OF REFORMS INTRODUCED DURING

THE PROGRESSIVE ERA?
In the decades following the civil war, the transformation of American society from a rural
and agricultural economy to an urban and industrial one brought about significant changes
in its core principles and character. The development of a nationwide transportation and
communication system, along with the emergence of a national market, stimulated the growth
of large industrial entities. As the 20th century progressed, Americans increasingly realized
that their nation was being dominated by big corporations, leading to concerns about the
individual's role in this industrialized society. These concerns sparked calls for reforms aimed
at restoring meaning to people's lives.

Who and why?

From 1900 to 1917, the Progressive movement emerged, uniting a diverse group of reformers
with different objectives. Unlike revolutionaries, the progressives sought to reform the
industrial system rather than dismantle it entirely. They included forward-looking
businessmen, labour activists, members of female reform organization, social scientists,
and a middle class that was eager to make it impact felt. Their agenda encompassed various
demands, including the establishment of regulations on businesses such as local transportation
companies and powerful trusts, the protection of workers' rights, and the restructuring of
municipal governance. Science and expert knowledge held significant importance for these
reformers aided by the belief that the scientific and technological advancements that had fuelled
industrialization could also effectively tackle the social issues arising from it.

New social perspectives

One of the notable factors behind the movement was the emergence of new social
perspectives and critiques, predominantly disseminated by influential social thinkers, which
subsequently formed the foundational concepts for the movement. Largely popularized were
the theories of those critical to the concept of ‘Social Darwinism’, like that of Lester Ward,
Edward Bellamy, etc. The lavish lifestyles of America’s “New rich capitalists” and Judges
looking out for interests of corporations also came under the target of professionals such
Thorstein Veblen and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. An important mention should be made of
Jane Addams, the settlement house leader whose idea of each individual’s well-being being
dependant on well-being of all, contributed in shaping the ideology of this Era. An accurate
gauge of her support can be found in the establishment of Hull House, a settlement house she
founded that evolved into a hub for social activism and the advancement of legislative reform
efforts.
Where the artists such as George W. Bellows and Alfred Stieglitz captured the vibrant city life,
a new generation of journalists and novelists took a dive into the less-flaunted characteristics
of those urban lands. Brought under the umbrella term of “Muckrakers” by President
Roosevelt; Lincoln Steffens, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, etc. wrote extensively about
the “dark side” of America’s capitalist society. Building upon the ideas of the above,
Progressives took on the task of “humanizing” industrial capitalism.
The Workers’ Call
Progressive America was characterised with complains of loss of freedom by both poorly
paid factory and better-off employees; and the erosion of personal autonomy came to
identified as the result of increase in the white-collar workers aided by the fact that big
industries practiced greater control over the work process. Influenced by these and coming of
terms such as “industrial freedom” and “industrial democracy”, a critical conclusion that
workers ought to be empowered enough to take part in economic decision-making
essentially through labour unions was publicized by Progressives such as Louis D. Brandeis,
an active ally of the labour movement. This was further aided by the Socialist Party which
flourished in diverse communities, asking for free college education, laws improving the
conditions of the laborers, with democratic control over the economy.
Concerned Americans deplored the unregulated corporate power and the hazards faced by the
industrial workers. A reason for this were the long work hours followed by the discipline of
the factory and the concept of “Efficiency” constantly demeaned the workers to the level of
machines. This drive of regulating big businesses was partially an inheritance from the
populist movement. Another reason often given to justify this aim by reformers was since
corporations benefited from government policies such as high protective tariffs and
railroad subsidies should be subjected to government regulations.
Several organizations, such as the American Federation of Labour also worked extensively
in this area. Privileged American workers primarily represented by the AFL, Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW) was another such group formed by the group of unionists
who rejected the AFL’s exclusionary policies. It supported the argument of the workers’
resolution that sought to seize the means of production and abolish the state.

At the Urban level

Progressives in urban areas embarked on a mission to reshape the government structure,
aiming to curtail the influence wielded by political bosses and aspired to rejuvenate
democracy by reinstating political agency to the people and fostering social cohesion in a
fragmented society. Progressives firmly believed in the potential of political reforms to forge
a cohesive society, uniting diverse individuals under the shared ideals of democracy and social
harmony. They sought to empower the public by establishing governmental oversight over
essential monopolistic industries, such as gas and water works. Furthermore, their focus
extended to enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of public transportation networks. As a
means to fund these endeavours, Progressives advocated for the augmentation of property
taxes, channelling the increased revenue towards the improvement of schools, parks, and
other communal facilities.

Hygiene and Environmental Concerns

As the population increased in pace, many cities experienced congestion in human warehouses,
lacking adequate parks, public-health resources, and basic municipal services. Certainly, it was
not long, before the problems became the target of the reformers too. The need of the hour as
demanded by progressives were beautiful cities and public buildings which would instil a
feeling of order and law in the citizens. Municipal hygiene also became a high priority as
diseases like cholera and typhoid fever were discovered, also taken in the account were the
concerns regarding the environment with the reformers lamenting the factories producing
smoke and sooth and arranging for an antismoke campaign. Gradually several other spheres
including the regulation of public forms of entertainment, that of female prostitution came
out of the carpet, while people were asked to stop consuming addictive substances such as
cocaine and alcohol on moral grounds. This later was legalized in the form of the Pure food
and drug Act, and also the Meat inspection act, both passed in 1906.

New Women at work

Parallelly, where the cities became birthplace of a mass consumption society; women were
seen in urban public places as workers, shoppers which challenge the traditional gender roles.
The concept of “new women” gained ground in this Era. Unlike the black women who still
contributed as the major workforce of the domestic sector, only 15% of the white women
were involved in the same. It’s at this time when the word “feminism” was used for the first
time, and added a new dimension to the discussion of “personal freedom”. In due time, a
resurgent women's movement saw the inclusion of middle-class women, alongside female
white-collar workers and college graduates, taking the lead.
Despite being excluded from voting and holding office in the majority of states, women played
a pivotal role in the political landscape of the Progressive era. They actively challenged their
exclusion from the political landscape, and helped develop a democratic silhouette to the
larger progressivism. This was further strengthened by the growing awareness regarding the
poor conditions of immigrants’ communities and the emergence of women and child
laborers. Many like Jane Addams advocated for government intervention to alleviate the
problems related to housing, income and health, while child labour was mentioned as a menace
to white supremacy.
Following 1900, the drive for women's suffrage expanded beyond the elitist approach of
the 1890s, encompassing a diverse coalition that included middle-class women's club
members, unionists, socialists, and settlement house workers. Campaigns were held
throughout the country for the right to vote and met with enough success, and at the same time
were responsible for bringing women into the public sphere; mass movements were directed
preaching government action to improve the lives of poor mothers and children and laws
regarding mothers’ pensions spread rapidly after 1910.

The Uncalled blacks

Almost negligible was however the call to end racism against the blacks. Being brutally
excluded from the wide panorama of progressivism, they experienced violence and
segregation from the white men and women alike. Justifying the inferiority of blacks, the
progressives generally supported or tolerated segregation, through paternalizing their steps
aimed to uplift the “backward and child-like people”. While the racism found no limit under
President Theodore Roosevelt, it ran rampant under the term of Woodrow Wilson.

The Unattended immigrants

No different from the blacks were those immigrants to America, coming of whom was at peak
during the Progressive Era. From various foreign lands did they populate the working class of
the country largely a result of expanding industries and the declining traditional agriculture;
and became bounded with long term labour contracts. These immigrants congregated in
tightly-knit "ethnic" communities with their own stores, theatres, and social groups, and
frequently maintained their native languages, with churches as their support system and
although most of them were earning more than they could back in their homeland, they paid its
price in the form of meagre salaries, extended shifts, and hazardous work environments.
Perceiving their presence as a threat, many progressives supported immigration restrictions
and justified their beliefs using science as its backing. In 1917, the literacy-test bills that
would have slowed immigration and which was falling victim to other presidents’ veto,
was made into a law by President Wilson. At the same time, these fears also added flame to
the eugenics movement, aimed at restricting immigration to “protect” America. Response to
this and various other oppressive tendencies was a wave of mass strikes among immigrant
workers in New Yorks, New Orleans, Massachusetts etc, with their demand for collective
bargaining rights while also highlighting the potential for ethnic unity to overcome divisions
among workers and emphasized the importance of democratic organization in achieving labour
solidarity.

A look at the Reforms

As a result, the following era was a host of several changes in the political process, included
an expanded electorate removed from government’s influence through the seventeenth
Amendment and the inclusion of white women by giving them enfranchising rights under the
19th amendment; amendments in the economic activities were done through the passing of the
Hepburn Act in 1906 and the Man Elkins Act in 1910; whereas the earlier limitation on the
labour Unions by courts were curtailed by the Clayton Act of 1914. Also enacted were the
Adamson Act and the Warehouse Act which marked the strengthening of the government’s
position intervening in the commercial sector. Monetary sphere was altered with the Federal
Reserve Act; passed under Wilson’s term, which created 12 public/private regional banks, and
the 16th amendment which gave the congress right to levy income tax.

Different perspectives

Progressive School
Although the progressive movement lost its momentum as the world got entangled in the
World War I, there was little controversy regarding its nature and characteristics because most
historians were then writing under the Progressive School, which saw Progressives as the
challengers of business and privileged classes; their goal according to this school were to
ensure social Justice and abolition of any social privilege. Rather than being anticapitalistic,
they preached for a democratic society based on compassion and egalitarianism.
One such historian was Vernon L. Parrington saw progressivism as a broad-based
movement that stood against a “plutocracy”, meanwhile John D Hicks assumed that
irrespective of inherent goals, the reformers without supported people against enemies.
However, parallel to them stood people like John Chamberlain who saw Progressive
movement as a failure, whose motives were a manifestation of an escapist desire to return
to an honest and virtuous past. Among other criticisms, included it being the reason behind
the depression of the 1920s.

Neo-Conservatives
Critics of this unrealistic evaluation of the human nature by the Progressive school historians
came from the Neo-Conservative historians writing after 1940 who questioned if conflict
and change could transform to a society to a better one, according to them the movement
failed to understand man’s predisposition towards evil.

Consensus Scholars
Leading the attack against the Progressive school’s interpretation, Richard Hofstadter of the
Consensus School, underlined the movement as being influenced by other factors such as
status anxiety, and the inability of the reformers to realise their ideologies’ short-sightedness.
George E. Mowry, on the other side was one of the first to view progressivism as a tool for
a particular class to reassert their position of leadership.
Organizational Historians
Simultaneously, another group by the name Organizational historians saw the series of
campaign an attempt to govern society through new ideals of scientific management and
efficiency and the primary aim was to make the government more efficient rather than
altering it to suit the people of America; the goal of regulating businesses was to do away
with the competition in the economy. Contrasting views have been put up by Robert H. Wiebe
who aimed to de-demonize the big business and putting forward the conclusion that many
Progressive reforms that were carried out in the twentieth century were supported and even
endorsed by businessmen.

The New-Leftists
From 1950s and 1960s, the New Left Historians proceeded to build upon the interpretations of
the neo-conservatives, consensus and organizational schools, and completely denounced
progressivism as anything but that of reform. On the forefront, Gabriel Kolko argued that
the focus of reforms was originally on business and industrial conditions, behind which
was an ideology that the most effective way to promote the well-being of the community was
by addressing the practical requirements of businesses.
Aside from the above interpretations, many scholars continued to see Progressivism as an
attempt to deal effectively with many social and economic problems that grew out of
industrialism and resulting concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals and
groups, among these were Joseph Huthmatcher, who tried to point out the roles of lower-
class groups in the movement and David Thelen, who takes back the root of the movement to
the depression of 1890’s for it gave an idea to people about the failure of industrialism and the
reason to search for alternatives.

However, in spite of varying ideas and beliefs of different historians and scholars regarding the
tenets of the Progressivism, a point where all the consensus rests are that the progressive
movement was always an urban-centric movement, thus Progressivism as a campaign was
largely propelled by forward-thinking entrepreneurs, labour advocates, members of women's
reform organizations, and a concerned middle class.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Boyer, P.S., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Vol II, 5 th Edition,
Massachusetts: Houghton Miffin Company, 2003.

 Foner, E. Give me Liberty! An American History, Vol II, New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,
2nd edition, 2007.

 Grob, G.N. and G.A. Billias, Interpretations of American History: Patterns and
Perspectives, Vol II, New York: The Free Press, 2000.