Last updated on Dec 21, 2001.
Progressivism
American experienced major changes in politics, economy, and society at the turn of the 19th century. Economic growth created jobs, improved American lives, and gave corporations more power. However, political corruption and economic inequality also increased. Progressivism was the reform movement in which reformers tried to solve those problems. Progressives implemented their reform ideas on political, economic, and social issues, and several important and associated political movements happened during this period. Those reforms and movements had strong impacts on corporate capitalism and contributed greatly to the formation of contemporary liberalism in American life.
Progressivism included reform ideas in political, economic, and social issues. Political reforms helped to limit corruption and power concentration at local, state and national levels. Reformers were supported by “Muckrakers” who used newspapers and magazines to help expose this corruption and bribery of the government. At the local level, city commissioners were elected to manage and control cities instead of mayors and the “city manager plan” was set up to maintain the legislative function of city commissioners but to move the executive function to an official administrator. As a result, the political power was no longer concentrated in one person, the city major. Additional reform ideas at the state level were the “direct primary” that enabled everyone to choose his or her party’s candidate. Furthermore, direct election of senators was approved by the state legislatures in 1913. Secret ballots and personal registration were implemented to make sure that everyone voted honestly and responsibly. Although women were extended rights to vote, minority, poor, and Black voters were not able to cast their votes due to complex rules and requirements.
Together with political changes, economic and social reforms were also implemented. The government tried to control and regulate corporations to protect consumers. Wisconsin governor Robert La Follete and the state government started to regulate railroad and utilities rates, limit privileges of these corporations, and imposed corporate income taxes. For the first time, the Industrial Commission staffed by professionals was found to monitor and guarantee major labor benefits such as working hours, injury compensation, and minimum wages. Other states including New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Colorado also followed the Wisconsin reform ideas.
President Roosevelt was one of the key figures in the Progressive movement and numerous pieces of reform legislation were part of his presidency. Roosevelt and the legislatures showed their supports for consumers by expanding the government regulations over economic issues. He agreed strongly with the decision of the federal court to dismantle a monopoly, the Northern Securities Company, in 1902. President Roosevelt proposed that the government should be able to set the railroad rates and the Hepburn Act granted the Interstate Commerce Commission the power of rate review in 1906. The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act during Roosevelt’s term, and Underwood-Simmons Tariff and Federal Reserve Act during Wilson’s term showed the stronger regulations of the government in economy. Another aspect of national reform was the intervention of the government in environment protection. Public Lands Commission and the National Forest Service was founded between 1903 and 1905 to regulate users of federal lands and forests.
Progressivism resulted in many political movements of women that shared its ideals. Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr formed the settlement house to empower the poor and politically and socially weak by supporting them through different types of services such as a nursery, an employment bureau, a saving bank, and a reading group. This movement inspired thousands of women in the United States to build over 400 settlement houses. Another women, Florence Kelly of Hull House—one of the settlement houses—was assigned to inspect factories in Illinois and her investigation contributed to the formation of Illinois’s first factory law, which protected labor rights and employment benefits. Furthermore, other settlement house workers joined with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon in the fight against alcohol, which was blamed for causing wasteful spending and family violence. Their victory was the prohibition of the sale and manufacture of alcohol in 16 states followed by the national Prohibition in the Eighteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. However, the Prohibition swept away social places for workers to have lunch and meeting and some ethnic activities and festival where alcohol was a custom were also affected. Beside the settlement houses, women gathered in many local women’s clubs to get educational support and discuss sexuality and alcohol matters. These movements tried to empower women at home and in the society through better social understanding and educational environment for their children. Furthermore, members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) were continuously involved in fighting for the women’s right to vote through various strategies including door-to-door campaigns, picketing, and strikes. By the year of 1920, women’s franchise had been granted nation-wide and it was the most important achievement of the women’s political movement at that time.
Another important political movement was the progressive era civil rights movement. First, black activists developed their political agenda, which asked for the rights to vote, and eliminate racial abuses and discrimination in 1905. This agenda was voiced again in their conference in 1909 and the movement reached a higher level when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1910. The organization used different kinds of political tools in the effort of achieving its missions such as publishing its own magazine and having its committee and lawyers fight at the Supreme Court, which ruled on the racial related law of Oklahoma, Maryland, and Louisville, Kentucky. Even though the NAACP won in these cases, the process of fighting for civil rights was slow and it was even affected negatively by the White members of the organization. White members themselves tried to limit the number and power of Blacks in the organization. At least, the civil rights movement caught the public’s attention and laid the foundation for further advancement later.
Progressivism reforms strongly influenced corporate capitalism. In When Corporations Rule the World, author David Korten stated that “corporations gained sufficient control over key state legislative bodies to virtually rewrite the laws governing their own creation”. This was the description of corporations during the time prior to the Progressivism period. However, the “direct primary” policy and the direct election of senators, two of Progressivism’s political reforms, enabled citizens to choose and vote for their party candidates and limited the influence of corporate power on forming the legislative bodies. Therefore, legislation would not be as favorable for corporations. In other words, Progressive reforms tried to reduce the political power of corporations. Moreover, state and national legislature passed laws which granted government more control over railroad rates, food and medicine quality and safety, and land uses. It struck at monopolies and affected businesses’ interest.
However, corporate capitalism played an active role in protecting itself during the reform process. Because capitalism values profit, corporations did not stand still and let Progressivism reformers reduce these interests. Corporations lobbied to get favorable final reform laws or they worked on delaying some laws which favored workers. Korten pointed out that industrial accidents killed 700,000 workers from 1888 to 1908, and 11 million of the 12.5 million families earned only an average of $380 a year in 1890. Despite those conditions, no state or federal laws regulated injury compensation, minimum wage, work hours, and child labor restriction before 1910. President Roosevelt, as part of his reform program in 1909, proposed compensation law, eight-hour workday, child labor abolition, and income and inheritance taxes. The Industrial Relations Commission, a federal agency to investigate the rights of labor, was not established until 1913. Minimum wage regulations would make businesses spend more money on labor wages than before because they had been paying workers very low. An eight-hour workday would require more days to produce the same amount of products and it led to higher cost and less profit. Injury compensation laws would increase corporate expenditure on work accidents. In short, these laws benefited workers and reduced corporations’ interests. Despite corporate pressure, these reforms were ratified due to the consistent and opposing pressure of Progressive reformers.
Ideas of Progressivism still play a significant role contemporary American liberalism. Contemporary liberalism could be in different forms in comparison to Progressivism. However, it still has a foundation in Progressivism. That is the effort to increase the liberty of American’s politically, economically, and socially. Political reforms at local and state level have ensured that all American citizens, women as well as men, Blacks and other minorities as well as Whites, are able to nominate and vote for their political representatives and participate in the political process. In addition, progressive reforms that limited political corruption are part of the liberal program today. Contemporary liberals call for the reform of a political system corrupted by corporate and other special interest money and influence. Through Progressivism, state and federal governments regulated corporations to reduce their privileges and the economic inequality among the society. Today’s liberals push for similar legislation to protect consumers and ordinary citizens from corporate interests. Progressive reform policies also expanded the government power to protect the environment, as the liberal program today is environmentally friendly. Women movements such as settlement house, women suffrage, and women’s clubs fought for women rights and benefits. These women’s ideals have carried on to liberalism’s inclusion and promotion of women and women’s issues today. Progressivism, therefore, can be seen to have built a strong foundation for contemporary American liberalism.
Progressivism together with the economic growth at the beginning of 19th century changed American life enormously. Reform ideas and political movements improved the political and economic system and protected political rights of citizens and economic benefits of consumers. Progressivism shifted a part of corporation power to government through regulations and governmental agencies. In brief, Progressivism is a very important reform movement in American history and its ideas are still evolving under the form of contemporary liberalism.
Thuy Le
History 7B
Oct 30, 2001
