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Progressive Era
The term "the Progressive Era" refers to the explosive period of reform that occurred
at the turn of the century. It was largely a response to the overwhelming changes brought
about by America's transition from an agricultural to an urban industrial society during
the post-Civil War period. Reformers concentrated on social, economic, and political
reform.
Social reform emphasized improving the living and working conditions of people
affected by industrialization and urbanization. Similarly, economic reform concentrated
on eliminating the worst effects of laissez-faire capitalism. Lastly, political reform
focused on increasing the efficiency of government as well as making the political
process more democratic.
Many reformers during the Progressive Era viewed the problems that confronted the
nation's poor as fundamentally social in nature. Thus, their primary focus was on
improving the living and working conditions of the urban poor. They campaigned for
better housing, improved health facilities, and safer working conditions as well as for
more school nurses, playgrounds, and other recreational facilities.
Women played a central role in Progressive-era social reform efforts. Many women
were involved in the settlement movement, which attempted to help the urban poor.
Other women focused on other social problems such as alcoholism and prostitution. The
temperance movement, for instance, sought to outlaw the sale and use of alcohol. They
succeeded temporarily in 1919 with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution (later
revoked by the 21st Amendment in 1933).
While working in these social reform movements, many women came to the
conclusion that they both deserved and needed the right to vote. They wanted the ability
to affect public policy with their votes. Thus, many women became involved in the
woman's suffrage movement. They did not succeed nationally until 1920.
Progressives also worked for other political and economic reforms. In particular, they
wanted to ensure the integrity of the democratic system, improve the quality of
government, and lessen the power of big business, especially of monopolies. To this end,
Progressives sought to reform how government and the political system operated,
particularly at the city and state levels, but also the federal.
City and state reform efforts varied greatly from one area of the country to another.
Their degree of success also varied. In some cases, reform mayors challenged the power
of urban political machines and corporate interests. In other cities, reformers went
further and instituted a system in which professional city managers and commissions of
supervisors ran the city's administration.
Progressives also passed state laws designed to limit a business' control over its
workers. These included laws establishing minimum wages, shorter working hours, and
limits to child labor. Progressives also aimed to make the political process more
democratic. They targeted state governments for election reforms because states have
jurisdiction over election procedures. Thus, they pressed for the initiative, the
referendum, the secret ballot, the recall, and the direct primary. (They also called for the
direct election of U.S. senators, which was a federal issue.)
Progressives believed that some reforms could be effective only if put in place at the
federal level. Because Progressive goals had broad support, the voters elected a series of
reform-minded presidents after 1901. These included Republican Theodore Roosevelt,
Republican William Howard Taft, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson. All three presidents
initiated and supported reform efforts. Roosevelt supported federal investigation and
reform of food processing. He and Taft supported strengthening the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC) and using antitrust laws against big businesses. Wilson brought
federal regulation into the financial area with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of
1913.
The work carried out by Progressives in expanding government to address social,
economic, and political problems was very important in the history of America. It
provided precedents for future actions and conditioned Americans for the mobilization
that took place beginning in 1917 for World War I. Although, the war provided the sense
of national purpose for reform that Progressives had always sought, the war experience
also dampened much of the reform fervor that had characterized the previous three
decades. Despite this lessening of reform fervor, there was little question that
Progressives had changed the way Americans thought about government's role in society
and the economy.