Progressivism: The Emergence of America's People's Party

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Recommended: Merits and demerits of progressivism

Ben Vanness
Professor Jeanette Jones
History of America After 1877
3 March 2017

Progressivism was a term vague term used to describe a movement in American in the early 20th century that effected the middle class. It was brought to attention a lot by modernization, examples include the railroad, politics, environmentalism and social justice. In this paper I will describe how progressivism developed, why some Americans were disenchanted with the Republican and Democratic parties through their continuous waste and corruption, what attracted people to the “People’s Party,” like worker compensation, improved child labor laws, minimum wage legislation, new work hours, graduated income tax and women’s suffrage, and how this political party addressed …show more content…

One of the main concepts of progressives was the warning of illegal voting that was corrupting the political system, which is why many citizens left the traditional “Republican” and “Democratic” parties and left to start anew. They wanted to “purify” the ability to vote by proposing prohibition, voter registration requirements, and literacy tests. A system of government to have more control for the citizens was proposed by some progressives such as William U’Ren and Robert La Follette. These men worked to pass laws to weaken the power of politicians. Through an open primary system, where all voters could take part and cast votes on a ballot of any party, it reduced party bosses of the power to pick candidates rapidly. This would make the government in the US more responsive to listen to the voice of American people. A “Corrupt Practices Act” was passed through The Oregon System, but unfortunately after its high point in 1912, it was reduced to a third party …show more content…

Like stated above, the Progressives main motive was to increase life in American for the middle class, and was largely centered on whites. This is because Progressivism was a mainly Northern-centered movement and most minorities were in the south or west regions of the United States. Two major issues rose during the Progressive Era for African Americans. Lynching and segregation were serious and prevalent conflict in America. The Progressives did not make this a top priority at all. They did nothing as Southern states made the system of discrimination more acceptable and powerful. As we mentioned in class, Plessy v. Ferguson only made segregation legal for the first time in 1896, and it set a precedent for future law cases to allow public places to separate among race. Some African American reformers in the Progressive Era included Booker T. Washington, an educator who established the Tuskegee Institute, and he argued that African-Americans should learn trades that would offer them the opportunity to be progressive citizens. An interesting aspect of Washington’s approach to segregation is that he did not want to fight it, but instead wanted to make African-Americans self-sufficient. W.E.B. Du Bois was a founder of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP. He disagreed with Washington and wanted to fight for racial equality. The only minority group that really prospered from the Progressive Era was the Women’s

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