Progressivism 1

Progressivism

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date
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Question 1

Progressivism was the period between 1890 and 1920 in where intense reforms were

affecting the political and social arena in the United States of America which aimed at

developing a better society. The progressives held that the U.S was in a serious crisis that it

could not resolve itself (Gherasim, 2018). The main actors in the progressivism movement were

reformers, muckrakers, and women. The reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther

believed that progressivism America as a result of greater democracy, efficient government,

effective business regulations, honest, and social justice for the working class (Bougie, 2019).

The muckrakers consisted of investigative journalists who played an important role in exposing

social injustices and political corruption. Women also played a role in the progressivism era

where the Women Suffrage Movement headed by Susan Anthony advocated for women involved

in government and the right to vote.

The reformers used their powers to influence the government in curbing unfair practices,

reduction of corruption rate, and end the negative impact of industrial development (Bougie,

2019). Through this, the managers and owners of organizations were forced to use ethical

practices in their endeavors of trumping over competition and return on investment. Reformers

also aimed at exposing government corrupt officials and the improvement of societal standards.

One of the achievements of muckrakers such as Ida Tarbell was exposing corrupt leaders in

Standard Oil and Ted Roosevelt who expanded the federal government power and influenced

labor unions to call for the implementation of protection policies for employees who worked in

private industries (Bodden, 2016). This was evident when the pure food and drug act law was

passed in 1906. The labor unions in this era offered a vocal support restriction of immigrants and

blamed them for low wages and poor working conditions. This led to the passing of the
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Immigration act in 1917 and the National Quota Law in 1921 which prevented immigrants from

different nations such as those from Asia.

Question 2

During the progressivism era, the main immigrants were people from both Southern

Europe and other people from Eastern Europe. Other immigrants were from Northern Europe.

According to Mink (2019), the “New Immigrants” were people from the Mediterranean, Polish

Ghettos, and the Balkans. There are many effects of immigration for the US. The population of

the US increased due to new immigrants. Various reform groups were established during this era.

Immigration caused social and political reforms in the US. The progressive era leads to the

amendment of the income tax (Smith, 2015). The immigrants brought new skills to the US and

acted as a source of labor although they were blamed for slowing the US wage growth. After

arriving in the United States, the immigrants looked for employment in the US others joined the

charitable groups in which they got educated. Some of the immigrants intermarried with the

American and later started their families in the US.

The main reason why immigrants came to America was to look for economic

opportunities. The immigrants came to exploit the resources in the US. According to Smith

(2015), other immigrants were seeking religious freedom and education. Some of the immigrants

were escaping poverty and war from their home country. Native-born Americans had a negative

attitude towards immigrants during the progressivism era. The American government also took

the immigrants as a threat to the laborers in America. However, other parties had a positive

attitude towards immigrants. Some of the groups that had a positive attitude towards the

immigrants include charitable organizations like the Young Men’s Association that provided

education to the immigrants and the other religious groups (Mink, 2019). The idea of Eugenic
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impacted many views of immigrants by the Americans. Some of the Americans hated the New

immigrants to an extent that they sterilized some people which made them infertile.
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References

Bodden, V. (2016). The Muckrakers: Ida Tarbell Takes on Big Business. ABDO.

Bougie, M. (2019). Who are Progressives and what Do They Believe In? Cavendish Square

Publishing, LLC.

Gherasim, G. C. (2018). Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics & American Economics in the

Progressive Era. American, British and Canadian Studies, 31(1), 148-154.

Mink, G. (2019). Old labor and new immigrants in American political development: union,

party, and state, 1875-1920. Cornell University Press.

Smith, J. P. (2015). The human capital (schooling) of immigrants in America. In Handbook of

the Economics of International Migration (Vol. 1, pp. 183-210). North-Holland.