Socialism In The Progressive Era Essay

Brett Coleman

3/4/2014

Dr. Spellman

HST 368

Socialism in the Progressive Era

Socialism is a word that has obtained a bad connotation in American society. Politicians are loath to lay claim to it, and often using it to lambast their political opponents with it. Yes in many ways America has seemed to embrace the economic benefits of Capitalism so whole heartedly, thoughts of a tangled bureaucratic mess of welfare and wealth distribution that is so contrary to the American idea of individualism are conjured up at the mere thought of Socialism. In fact many still equate Socialism with Communism and are given to thoughts of the Cold War, and the battle of ideologies that it entailed. Many Americans would perhaps be quite surprised to learn that Socialism had found a place in American society at one time, and that it held a considerable amount of influence over the direction the country would take.

This paper proposes to argue that the rise of Socialism in American society was due in large part to the reaction to the disenchantment of American citizens with their governments and the effect industrialization had on society. This historian proposes that while the victim of a great deal of opposition, the Socialist movement contributed to a number of the reforms made during the Progressive era. The historical evidence will show that many of the beliefs that drove the reforms of the era were propagated by individuals and groups associated with the Socialist movement in America, and that it affected all geographical regions of the United States, though some more than others. Ultimately the goal is to show how Socialism, despite being considered in some circle anathema to being American, was heavily involved in shaping society in the twenti...

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...ct. An event that really illuminates how serious this conflict of beliefs became was the Green Corn Rebellion in 1917. The Green Corn Rebellion was an armed resistance to the Selective Service by a number of members on the Working Class Union in rural Oklahoma. The conflict got its name from the supposed intent of the rebels to march to Washington and force the Government to repel the Draft, and they would eat Corn for sustenance along the way. The Rebellion was short lived, and unfortunately ended in the deaths of three individuals. The even more devastating effect of the Rebellion was that many blamed the Socialist Party of America and other leftist groups for inciting the rebellion, and as a result the Socialist Party was virtually decimated in the region made all the more devastating by the fact that rural Oklahoma had been a bastion for the Socialist movement.