Progressivism In The 1800's

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In the late 1800’s one of the most prominent movements had commenced: progressivism. Progressivism lasted about two decades into the 1900’s, leaving behind a substantial amount of changes in American society that can never be un-done. According to Alan Brinkley, progressivism was essential for society’s growth and advancement (Brinkley, 477). Howard Zinn believes that progressivism helped to stabilize the capitalistic system and restore some of the peace between the social classes (Zinn, 354). Some of these movements included the bettering of working conditions, immigration reform, women’s suffrage, and housing reform. A man who was one of the most popular progressive reformers was Henry Ford. Henry Ford was a determined man who rose from the lower end of the social …show more content…

Ford attempted to help this by establishing no titles in his factories. According to his autobiography, titles cause limitations on authority, which, in return, causes problems and insecurities amongst the workers. All of the workers are comfortable with each other and are not afraid to go above coworkers’ heads. (Ford, 93). He attempts to minimize the social gap by not taking a man’s past into account. He did not believe in judging a man by his past, whether he received a degree from an ivy-league school or did not receive one at all. Everyone starts at the same place and has to earn their way up. Henry Ford stated that they did not “hire a man’s history, [they hired] the man.” (Ford, 95). Progressive reformers, such as Henry Ford, either wanted to stop immigrants from coming to the United States, or help them assimilate. Ford was one of the people who wanted to help them assimilate. To accomplish this, when he established $5 a day minimum wage, he created a Sociological Department. This Sociological Department went to the houses of his employees, including the immigrants, and helped them learn how to properly spend their money (Sinclair,

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