Liberalism: The Progressive Era

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Liberalism is a political philosophy. It main tenants are the ideas of Liberty and Equality. This can be covered by several different topics and views. Most Liberals support the following: freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil rights, democratic societies, secular governments and international cooperation. Liberalism has been growing in our country since the American Revolution but came even more to the forefront in the late 19th and early 20th century. Let’s focus on the progressive era through the Great Society and see how those events affected society.
The progressive era began in the 1890’s and peaked in the 1920’s. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were seen as progressive …show more content…

Today, it is the nation's most important and expensive domestic program, covering nearly 49 million Americans and accounting for about ¼ of the federal budget.
President Lyndon Johnson started a group of domestic programs known as the Great Society. His main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. The Warren Court which was presided over by Chief Justice earl Warren played a hand in expanding the civil rights of all Americans.
The Great Society Plan was ambitious and controversial. How could it end poverty? Johnson was a teacher and had observed extreme poverty in Texas, especially among the Mexican-American population. The main legislation of the War on Poverty was the Economic Act of 1964. It created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to oversee a variety of community-based antipoverty programs.
Also the Social Security Act Amendments was passed. This added the programs Medicaid and Medicare. Benefits were only available to those over 65. Medicaid was created for those people on

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