Success Of The Progressive Era

The goal of the Progressive Era was a hopeful and seemingly simple one. Progressives believed that applying human intelligence to the task on improving the country would ultimately bring about progress in the nation (Hewitt, 384). This ideal became so widespread that it now known as the Progressive Era. This period had plenty of successes and failures, supporters and non-supporters for a myriad of reasons, but despite these reasons progressives had a large impact on America politically, socially, and economically. To begin with, politically, progressives economically tried for government reforms to decrease the power of corrupt political machines and corporations. They claimed that this would “produce greater efficiency, openness and accountability in the government” (Hewitt, 496). For example, Robert M. La Follette, who was the governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906, led the way in improving the overall abilities and performance of the states government as well to hold the state accountable for its citizens. He rid of the state’s corrupt urban political machines by creating a law that prohibits direct corporation …show more content…
Racism was still a fact of the progressive era, and southern white people had little sympathy for blacks, which is shown in President Roosevelt’s dealing of the Brownsville incident, where he was involved in a mass lynching of 167 black men who’s guilt was never questioned (Hewitt, 502) Northern whites still favored segregation. Many progressives were interested in political power than the interests of the people. Immigrants became targets and were forced to convert to the ways of white middle class Americans, being shunned from their own ideals, morals, and ways of living. Progressives expected people to hold themselves to a certain way of being, and acted superior to anyone different. These faults ultimately created a harsh reputation of the progressive