Pros And Cons Of Populism

The early 20th century marked the beginning of a new era of government in the United States where there was a lopsidedness of power between restraining monopolies and more modest companies. The large businesses ran the economy and annihilated more diminutive competitors. The small companies did not have a shot in competing because the government favored the large and wealthy businesses. In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became the first Progressive president. Later, in 1909, Progressive President William Taft took office, and then Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Progressives wanted to bring order and control to the chaos in American society. The Populists wanted to eliminate capitalism and needed socialism which would balance society by denying organizations any unfair advantages. They wished to equalize competition by destroying large companies. During the Progressive Movement, Progressive Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson achieved a number of the populist objectives to reach equilibrium in society; however they did not succeed in satisfying other populist goals.

The Progressive Presidents wanted to achieve

The Populists wanted to liquidate national banks because they feared a central system. Since the Populists embraced socialism and since the Progressive Presidents were capitalist, they believed that this abolition would defy capitalism which is why this objective was not accomplished. Also, the Populists advocated that the United States should coin silver because it was cheaper than gold, which was what the United States money system was based on. This would cause more efficiency of the economy’s system because more money would be produced. Despite the fact that these objectives were not met, numerous different reforms were made to conform to Populist objectives which improved