Progressive Era

In the United States, the Progressive Era was a period of reform that began in America's urban regions from, approximately the 1890s and lasted through the 1920s, although some experts say it lasted from 1900 to 1920. Reformers sought change in labor and fiscal policies in different levels of government; initially it was successful at local level, and then it progressed to state and gradually national. The reformers were predominantly members of the middle class. Furthermore, women came to the fore in the Progressive era and proved their value as social workers, probably due to the lack of female suffrage. Although the Progressives pushed for social justice and general equality, there was extreme diversity and contradiction within the Progressive movement. One of the main areas of disagreement came with the position of blacks in Progressivism, Catholic settlements would work in black neighborhoods whilst Protestant social groups refused to work with the supposedley "inferior race".

Related Topics:
United States - Reform - 1890s - 1920s

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Many reforms dotted this era, including Prohibition with the 18th Amendment and women's suffrage through the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, both in 1920 as well as the initiation of the Income Tax with the Sixteenth Amendment

Related Topics:
Prohibition - 18th Amendment - Women's suffrage - Nineteenth Amendment - Income Tax - Sixteenth Amendment

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and direct election of Senators with the Seventeenth Amendment. Muckrakers, a term given to the reaction-producing writers of the time period by President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), were among some of the best examples of progressive reformers. Progressives shared a common belief in the ability of human nature to improve by bettering its living and working conditions.

Related Topics:
Direct election of Senators - Seventeenth Amendment - Muckraker - Theodore Roosevelt

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Political rights such as Initiative, Referendum and Recall, all parts of the standard foundation of a fully democratic state, were all pioneered during the movement.

Related Topics:
Initiative - Referendum - Recall

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Other famous Progressives of the era were William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Robert M. La Follette, Sr.

Related Topics:
William Howard Taft - Woodrow Wilson - Robert M. La Follette, Sr.

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