80 likes | 217 Views
The Progressive Movement 1895-1920. A Response to Modernity. What was the Progressive Movement?. Urban crusaders “who waged war on many evils…monopoly, corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice”. Regulate the trusts Rid cities and states of political corruption
E N D
The Progressive Movement 1895-1920 A Response to Modernity
What was the Progressive Movement? Urban crusaders “who waged war on many evils…monopoly, corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice” • Regulate the trusts • Rid cities and states of political corruption • Attack social ills: poverty, housing, health • Expand democracy • Improve moral behavior • Restrict immigration • Improve factory conditions • “use government as an agent of human welfare” “Fighting” Bob LaFollette
Who Were the Progressives? • It was an impulse, not an organized movement! • Urban • College educated • Middle class • Mostly women • Democrats or Republicans • Politicians • Social reformers
Progressives • Feared that trusts and corrupt government formed an unholy alliance to limit democratic institutions • Feared that urban problems, immigrants, and labor violence would overwhelm society and that socialism would replace capitalism
Progressive Action • Federal level: legislation, executive orders, Supreme Court cases • State and local levels: legislation and re-structuring • Private sector: • Investigative journalism • Social activism • Protests and demonstrations
Why at the beginning of 20th Century? • Populist movement had just died out in 1896, but ideas lived on • The Social Gospel movement had earlier attempted to address some social ills • A new optimism in 1900 • Economic recovery • Spanish-American War • Investigative Reporting: Muckrakers • Impact of TR
Progressive Presidents Wilson Roosevelt Taft
Essential Question "The Progressive movement from 1895 to 1917 was a triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism." Do you agree or disagree and why?