The Progressive Movement In The Twentieth Century

The first two decades of the twentieth century was known as “The progressive era” which was was a time of rapid economic and industrial growth. The progressive era was defined as “a broad, loosely defined political movement of individuals and groups who hoped to bring about significant change in American social and political life” (544). Progressives mostly consist of middle class men and women, who “believe” that the government should support the people for the people. To President Roosevelt, the central lesson of the Progressive is that you either have to shape change consistent with your values, or you will be shaped by it in ways that make it more difficult for you to live by your values (Remarks).The party was tied to many movements during this stretched time period. The people of the progressive party; known as progressives, wanted to concur a wide variety of issues such as women’s rights, the prohibition of alcohol, and the treatment of immigrants, just to name a few.
The party categorizes their opinions as that of Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. The success of the movement was also guaranteed by having politicians such as Robert La Follette and Woodrow Wilson by their side.
During this era women thrived to be equal. Some of the progressive’s goals within women’s rights were birth control and woman suffrage. Woman’s …show more content…
With Fordism came an economic shift and an increase in factory workers. With this, comes uproar in Progressive America because men and women complained that they were poorly paid in these unsafe factories, and they feel that their freedom was taking away by the higher up employees. With this the progressives began to fight for “industrial freedom” and “industrial democracy”. To achieve “industrial freedom” the progressives believed “the freedom lies in empowering workers to participate in economic decisions making via strong unions”