1890s to 1920s

“Progressives were reformers who attempted to solve problems caused

by the rapid growth of industry, immigration,

cities and big business.”

Progressives were most often

ScholarsPoliticiansPreachersTeachersWriters

Social workersWhite

Middle classCollege Educated

The main idea was that:

Reform = Progress

Progress can be blocked by ignorance and corruption…so ignorance and corruption must be exposed and eliminated!

When did the movement begin?

The roots of the Progressive Movement go back to the short-lived People's Party, also known as the "Populists", in the U. S. from 1891 until 1896. It started among poor, white farmers in the South and Midwest who were hostile to banks, railroads, and the rich. The Populists sometimes formed coalitions with labor unions interested in worker’s rights.

Adopted Populist Ideas

More government regulation of industry & big business

Expand the voting rights of more Americans

Limit the power of political bosses.

Improve worker’s rights/address child labor

Clean up the cities and improve living conditions for immigrants and the poor

End segregation and Jim Crow (for Blacks in the South)

Populists vs ProgressivesPopulists---rural

Progressives---cities

Populists were poor and uneducatedProgressives were middle-class and

educated.

Populists were too radicalProgressives stayed political mainstream.

Populists failedProgressives succeeded

Areas to Reform

Social Justice

Political Democracy

Economic Equality

Conservation

Social Justice

Improve working conditions in industry

Regulate unfair business practices

Eliminate child labor

Help immigrants and the poor

Political Democracy Give the government back to the people

Get more people voting

End the corruption of political machines (party organizations, headed by a single boss or small powerful group, that gets enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county, or state)

Economic Justice Fairness and opportunity in the work world

Regulate unfair trusts (businesses that controlled entire industries, like oil or railroads) by breaking up monopolies.

Changes in labor (pay, hours, working conditions).

Show the common people that U.S. Government is in charge and notthe industrialists (big business owners).

CONSERVATION

Preserve natural resources and the environment

Progressive Presidents

•Theodore Roosevelt

1901 to 1909

•William Howard Taft

1909 to 1913

•Woodrow Wilson

1913 to 1921