Progressive Movement Essay

Reformers tended to value scientific studies and the recommendations of professional "experts" whether they were promoting efficiencies in society or fighting corruption in politics.

Tags: How To Write Statement Of The Problem In Research ProposalWays Of Solving Environmental ProblemsDissertation Format SampleSamuel Laryea Phd ThesisEssays Art As A Political StatementMicroprocessor AssignmentResearch Proposal Of Education

The focal point of the early reform period was abolitionism, the drive to remove what in the eyes of many was the great moral wrong of slavery.Progressives were a curious lot—they included young female settlement house workers, corporate reformers, children's advocates, as well as southern segregationists and disenfranchisers.Progressivism might even be a misnomer; after all, what was necessarily "progressive" about the electric chair or segregation?Some of these ideas were fueled by the new field of sociology and the professionalization of medicine, law, psychology, anthropology, and the social sciences.Prohibition might serve as the preeminent progressive reform.The needs of African Americans and Native Americans were poorly served or served not at all a major shortcoming of the progressive movement.Progressive reforms were carried out not only on the national level, but in states and municipalities.The second reform era began during Reconstruction and lasted until the American entry into World War I.The struggle for women`s rights and the temperance movement were the initial issues addressed.Reformers responded in part to the rapid advancement of new technology, the emergence out of the new industrial economy of urban and corporate dominance, the availability of natural resources as a result of western expansion, the rise of a labor class, and, finally, the loss of middle-class power between the 1880s and 1910s.Reforming efforts took place in all political, economic, and social arenas and each of these efforts repeatedly questioned the role of the federal government in addressing the issues and problems of a new economic order.