History
Progressivism is a set of political theories that advocates social, political and economic changes for the betterment, especially in context of the deprived section of the society. This observable fact came into the existence in the period between the end of nineteenth century and in the beginning of the twentieth century.
The emergence of this principle was first experienced in the cities, which were flooded by the migrated workers, who left their native places and traditional occupation, in search of better opportunities. These opportunities had taken place because of the new emerging centers of industries; people started fleeing towards the industrialized cities and had left agricultural activities. These migrated people formed new societies, new relations were built up; the requirement of new regulations was felt at these places to meet the new demands and to handle the new situations. Progressivism was thus a theory which emerged due to the effect of industrialization and helped in building a new middle class in the cities. In this paper, we would look at several aspects of the progressivism and would also analyze how Progressivism fundamentally changed the role of government within American society.1
In the contemporary society of America, progressivism affected almost every section of the society and it provided a platform for various problems of the country. It added value to the democratic system, inspired people to think more about the society, recognized various rights of the people and motivated people to think of their duties. Various interest groups emerged in the democratic society and used to keep an eye on the activities of the government. People started denying the alluring style of politicians and demanded for the performance instead of merely speaking.2
One interesting trend occurred was the decline in the voting percentage in the election and main reason was observed as to be the lack of interest of the people in the politics and politicians. People found the interest groups more effective because they were able to pressurize the government and able to get the works done. In the presidential elections of America during the period of 1876 to 1900, the average turnout was seventy seven percent however it was in the period of 1900 to 1916 the percentage was reduced to 65 percent and further in the decade of 1920’s it was dwindled to 52 percent.3
The progressives were the people who believed in every kind of reformation at every level. They concentrated on the government at lower and upper levels. They focused on the industrialization, urbanization, education and all kinds of corruption by the democratic way. The numbers of progressives was growing rapidly and the educated class was joining the train of progressivism. Theodore Roosevelt was also one of the major progressives who were trying to give a direction to the society by the way of reformation and new progressive thoughts. 4
Theodor Roosevelt held the chair in the year, 1901 and introduced a number of reforms in the society and the country related to the centralization of powers, rights of people, rights of women, rights of children, right of minimum wages and condition of animals. Martin Luther king was another famous progressive who stood up for the civil rights and contributed a lot in the making of the new progressive society. He sacrificed his life fighting for the rights of the black community. Martin Luther king was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution towards the peace. Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Ralph Nader, William. O. Douglas, Marc twain are some big names of highly educated people who played very important role in the development of the thought and the society.5
Gradually, the progressives became very strong force by the 1911- 12 and they were in a very good condition. They were in condition to make differences, the process was started right from the municipalities and presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson took the idea to a new height by implementing the reform policies at national level. Leaders like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson who believed in progressive thoughts also did some remarkable tasks.
William Howard Taft took office in the year 1909 and the American progressives faced a new situation thereafter. In coming years, Taft became the critic of the progressives and in the forth coming election, he campaigned against them. The Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson also contested as Democratic Party and progressive party candidates against the Taft. Woodrow Wilson got the massive success in the election defeating the Taft and the Roosevelt. Woodrow Wilson was a strong supporter of the nationalism, new freedom and believed in the performance. He started discouraging the progressives, denied his support to rights of minimum wages, rights of children, rights of women and a bill favoring the rights of farmers and workers.6
The acts and policies of Woodrow Wilson left the African American, women, workers and farmers, red faced. They all had casted their votes in his favor and when the time came to repay, instead of favoring them, Woodrow was ignoring and cutting their rights. Woodrow Wilson though changed his policies before the next election, abandoned his thoughts of new freedom and started recognizing and favoring the rights of workers, women and farmers.
The contributions of progressives are the improvements in the area of rights of children, improvements in the city, broader presidency rights, independent commissions and flexibility in laws. The progressives helped in removing the various complexities of the society by using simple methods. During the time of The Roosevelt, several development oriented policies were introduced and further he used expert advice and other simple policies to give the people comfort. The progressives stepped towards the concept of the welfare state. How much success they got is a different matter but their efforts were genuine. Their relevance started declining gradually with the participation of America in the first world war.
Work Cited
Divine, Robert A. America, past and present. Glenview: Pearson Education, 2011.
