Introduction
In the late 19th and early 20th century, America was dominated by political sentiment that was generally characterized as progressive. This was expressed in the popular expression of readiness for reforms capable of improving the quality of life of the country and the state apparatus. Many of the tasks that the progressive politicians of that time set were connected with the desire for freedom of the oppressed classes.
The reforms took shape against the background of the Gilded Era, which was the start of the industrial growth of America and the expansion of machine production. The industrial period in the life of America provoked economic growth that had to be preserved and directed. On the one hand, progressive parties sought to give people more freedom, but on the other, they did not believe that a fully open democracy could be the key to a reliable course of government. It was the conflict between the progressives, striving for moderate democratization, and the populists, who, in their turn, sought to win over the majority through the call for anti-establishment.
Motivations and Identity of Populist and Progressive Reformers
The progressives were primarily concerned with the social problems centered around the industrial revolution. The companies of that time had a problem with maintaining a competitive market, which was expressed in lower wages and unbearable working conditions through working trusts. This provoked public outcry and was reflected in antitrust newspaper articles. The emerging problem of exploiting factory workers and children gave rise to labor unions that fought to improve their working conditions.
Civic Engagement and Reform Strategies
Public coverage of the problems of society, such as the oppression of workers and unbearable working conditions, coupled with information about political corruption, excited public opinion. The journalists significantly impacted the image of injustice and provoked public speeches that demonstrated the demand for reforms. President Roosevelt, having come to power, retained large trusts but took them under the control of the state. Thus, competing companies sued and dissolved J.P. Morgan’s immense railroad trust.
Ethical Foundations of Reform Movements
An ethical measure for further de-monopolization was the Hepburn Act of 1906, which created a commission to regulate the activities of the railways. The desire of politicians to attract the attention of the majority through the promise of civil liberties was expressed in the Woodrow Wilson Agenda, which guaranteed support for small business owners. However, upon coming to power, Wilson abandoned the New Liberty idea and strengthened workers’ rights in trust, giving them the right to protest. The fight against corporatism characterizes a progressive era in American history when trusts proliferated so that they began to pose a real threat to the working class.
Successes and Limitations of Reform Efforts
The progressives’ reforms were controversial and associated with conflicts between social, democratic, and aristocratic principles of government. Progressives believed that the growth of mechanization and consumer goods limited human freedom. Despite this, in the progressive camp, the Taylorist movement emerged, restricting workers’ freedoms and increasing discipline in schools and workplaces.
In the camp of the Progressives, there was a place for reforms close to social: they raised taxes on public transport and schools and established public control over gas and water. These improvements are ethical and liberating for citizens. Still, many other innovations sought to bring order to the chaos of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of production and consumption.
The desire for the perfection of civil society has led to a conflict between the increasing democratization and the desire to find qualified professionals and experts to run the country. Here is an apparent conflict between the ethical and the civic. It seemed ethically correct to give people more freedom.
Still, it was reasonable for politicians, from the point of view of the development of society, to limit the democratic possibilities of political choice. In some cities, governance has been concentrated in the hands of city managers and experts, and voting rates have been reduced to negligible. It should be noted that voting was limited for immigrants and through the Jim Crow law, which prohibited enslaved people and people of color from voting. However, despite the abundance of segregation laws, there were examples of the struggle for the rights of blacks and the improvement of their quality of life. Booker T. Washington established an institute in Alabama for blacks to acquire skills suitable for the general social environment. In this way, new classes fighting for rights clashed with obsolete civic norms fighting for relevance.
Conclusion
Thus, the Industrial Revolution marked an era of such rapid development that the Progressive and Populist parties were not only in opposition but also included internal conflict due to the uncertainty of the political program. Woodrow Wilson’s presidential campaign was populist but tended to control trusts rather than downplay them.
Progressives, in turn, could not decide between ethical and civic guidelines for governing the state, choosing between the democratization of labor and the tightening of work discipline. This happened against the background of the struggle of the vulnerable class for their rights and the close attention of the public. The ethical need was to expand human rights, but it was limited to the need to hold on to power so that civil society would not slide into chaos and revolution.
Bibliography
Filene, Peter G. An Obituary for “The Progressive Movement”. American Quarterly 22, no. 1 (1970): 20-34.
Flanagan, Maureen. America Reformed: Progressives and Progressivisms, 1890s–1920s. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Gilmore, Glenda E. Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896–1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.