The Progressive Movement in the USA - Essay Example

The chief impact of the Progressive cause was to purify the government as much as possible. This was achieved by discouraging and persecuting governmental corruption through the exposure of and undercutting various political bosses and political machines. The majority of the Progressives supported the Prohibition movement as it was seen as tantamount to undermining the local boss’ political power in saloons. (Timberlake, 1970) This era also coincides with the promotion of women’s suffrage in order to bring the “purer” female-based vote into the political arena. (Southern, 1968) The Progressive movement is also better known for its emphasis on enhancing efficiency in all sectors. This change was brought about in large part by identifying older work methodologies which were subsequently modernized by promoting scientific methods.

The political reform of the Progressive movement was led by many different people. The aspects of local government, medicine, finance, education, industry, churches, railroads, insurance, and numerous other areas were reformed. The Progressive movement is particularly notable for introducing the social sciences to the purely scientific method and then developing them accordingly. The fields of political science, history, and economics can be seen as major benefactors of the Progressive reform movements. (Karl, 1975) Popularly it is held that the Progressive era aided the research professor to supersede the amateur author as the scholarly matter was published in the new presses and journals.

The Progressive movement grew chiefly on the local scale, however, with time the movement expanded to include first the state and then the national scales. The biggest support the Progressive movement gained was from the middle class. The middle class was growing decently before the Progressive era but it expanded rapidly following this era and thus added to greater support for the Progressive agenda. Most of the supporters were professionals such as business people, physicians, lawyers, engineers, teachers, ministers, and the like. The Progressive movement strongly advocated the application of the scientific methodology to government, finance, schools, education, economics, industry, medicine, theology as well as the family unit. The Progressive movement can be seen to closely imitate advances within Western Europe at the same time. (Rodgers) Primarily the European influences are most notable in banking laws which were manifested with the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1914.

In response to the injustice and inefficiency in governmental structure displayed in the Gilded Age, the Progressives responded by initiating political reforms. A number of major constitutional changes can be seen emanating from this era. The Sixteenth Amendment brought the imposition of the income tax. The Seventeenth Amendment ensured that Senators were elected directly which eroded the power base of the political machines and bosses. The Eighteenth Amendment espoused Prohibition which outlawed alcohol. Finally, the Nineteenth Amendment provided women suffrage after a hard struggle.

Similarly, political corruption was exposed by various journalists working for the myriad new newspapers, magazines, and journals. The typical term used for these journalists was “muckrakers” as they were bent upon gathering and exposing all the political “muck” that they could lay their hands on. (Miraldi, 2000) Similarly, the Progressives were staunch advocates of democracy at the grassroots level. The major change in this respect was the inclusion of voters into the law-making and amendment process. The first step in this respect was the efforts of William S. U’Ren and his Populist Party in Oregon. The changes such as the introduction of the primary system in Oregon encouraged other states to follow suit by adopting similar systems. In the longer run, the direct involvement of the voters ensured that democratic awareness increased and the influence of the party bosses ebbed in due course of time. (Allswang, 2000)

The Progressives also had a major impact on the education system. Schools were modernized and there was a rapid increase both in the number of schools and in the number of students enrolled. The rapidly expanding metropolises saw this change more effectively than the countryside. Following 1910, myriad smaller cities embarked on a scheme to build new high schools. Consequently, towards 1940 it was estimated that nearly half of the young adult population had enrolled in schools and made their way to a high school diploma. This promoted the expansion of an educated middle class that eventually became the bedrock of the Progressive movement.

Overall, the Progressive movement emerged as it was felt that old methods produced waste and inefficiency. The desire to change the status quo led to the Progressive movement and many major changes can be attributed to the Progressives.