Benefits and Drawbacks of Progressive Reform - Essay Example

Different parts of the society were now becoming active towards their common problem. These changes have to be done to civilize the cities without attracting America’s economy. This was the main aim of the progressive movement.

Another class of the society that was affected by the progressive movement was the working class. The working-class women and the middle were brought together under one organization to solve social problems in a legislative way. The progressive movement was started by the local government and then moved to the upper-level government. The work efficiency was also boosted up during this era. A young expert named Fredrick W Taylor introduced new ideas of efficiency at working place which improved productivity by speeding up labor activity.

In this progressive era, a young man with great political experience became the president of the United States named  Theodore Roosevelt. At the age of forty, he became the youngest president of the United States. The main cause that made him popular was his policies that reflected his personality as an activist and moralist.

His main concern was railroad regulation which ended up with a compromise between the two positions. His greatest achievement was to conserve America’s natural resources. He won a noble peace prize for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese war and preserving an open-door policy in China.           

Woodrow Wilson was the governor of New Jersey and became the president of the United States in 1912. He started the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. This act provided the control of the government over banking. He also introduced Federal Trade Commission Act that regulated the trade by taking a commission from these trade corporations. He appointed a commissioner to regulate these trades affairs. The appointment of these commissioners was not liked by progressives.        

Progressivism was exploited mostly by white men. Women were the victims of progressivism. This resulted in the launch of the National Women Party  which fought against women suffrage. Black was also the sufferers of progressivism. Rich people were exploiting the poor and hampering cultural ethics by making the wrong use of progressivism.      

But above all its drawbacks progressive reform developed the culture, lifestyle, new trade methods, and much more advancements. The government became more responsible towards economic and social welfare. Middle-class people became more conscious of their rights in society. The banking procedure was changed and got under the control of the government. Progressivism preserved the capitalist system. Progressivism introduced many democratic ideas from different parts of society. This was the end of the nineteenth century and progressivism was the major reform of this century.