Populist and Progressive Movements in the United States American Progressivism refers to a political and social movement in the beginning of the 20th century. This movement appeared as a response to changes caused by the industrial revolution in the United States. Later, progressivism addresses such issues as social justice and environment. Progressivism was largely a bipartisan effort led by William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Robert La Follette and William Howard Taft (Wikipedia).
Progressive movement mainly addressed issues concerning direct participation of Americans in their countrys political life. Their reforms concerned: Ballot initiative (a procedure whereby citizens could vote directly on whether to approve proposed laws); Initiative (a procedure whereby ordinary citizens could propose laws for consideration by their state legislatures or by the voters directly; Direct primary (a procedure whereby political party nominations for public office were made directly by a vote of rank-and-file members of the party rather than by party bosses); Direct election of U.S. Senators; Referendum; Recall (a procedure by which a public official could be removed from office by a direct vote of the citizens); Secret ballot; Women’s suffrage (granting to women the right to vote) (Wikipedia).
The Essay on Progressive Movement
The Progressive Movement was a movement that came about due to changes in society after the Civil War. The Movement was a political response to industrialization and social imperfection. The Progressives were able to bring about successful reform in the areas of political and social reform, women’s suffrage, and worker and child labor. The black movement was not considered part of the Progressive ...
Progressive movements main successes are: 1. The Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows all citizens in all states directly vote for their Senators and 2. The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which grants all women a right to vote. The populist movement a political movement of the late nineteenth century, emerged after the farm crisis of 1870s. Initially, the Populist Party mainly constisted of farmers and represented the interestes of White and Black farmers.
Later, Populists reached out to workers in the industrial cities and women. Populists were mainly driven by the idea of social equality for rich and poor and strongly opposed large national corporations. They strove to protect American democracy, which, according to them, was jeopardized by millionairs money and growing corruption. Populists main ideas included: abolition of national banks, a graduated income tax, direct election of Senators, civil service reform, a working day of eight hours and Government control of all railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. In the 1892 Presidential election, James B. Weaver received 1,027,329 votes (Wikipedia).
Populist movement main success were: 1. The US Government adopted Populists juggestion of making silver a legal tender for a short period of time; 2. The Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows all citizens in all states directly vote for their Senators. Progressive movement has been far more successful than the Populists in achieving their goals. In contrast to the Populist party, which became very weak after their poor performance in 1896 Presidential Elections, Progressive party slowing evolutionized into Democratic and Green parties. Latter has taken many progressives ideas into their programs. Moreover, todays America is far from Government conrolled railroads, telegraphs and telephones. Also, it is no secret that large corporations often lobby favorable laws and decisions through interested people in Congress. Without a doubt, the Populists were more radical than Progressives in their vision for the future of the U.S.
The Essay on The Progressive Movement Was A Liberal Triumph
“The Progressive movement of 1900 to 1917 was a triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism.” I disagree with this statement. The basic philosophy of “conservatism” is that change is bad. The basic “historian” definition of progressivism is: a movement for social change and improvement. For this reason, it is accurate to say that this era was a ...
Even though they tried to represent many social groups, they lacked finanical resources to run their campaigns and persuade voters in their favor. Progressives, in contrast, also represented wealthier, more educated groups of voters, who greatly infuenced educational system and, consequently, minds of people around the nation. Sources: Progressivism in the United States: Wikipedia, 28 February 2008, , visited on February 28, 2008 Populist Party (United States): Wikipedia, 26 February 2008, , visited on February 28, 2008.
