2.8 The Progressive Impulse

Progressivism is a term used to encompass a series of reforms and reform movements that were forward thinking, attempting to address and organize the chaos of the rapidly changing, urban, industrial world of the later 19th and early 20th centuries. It was not one single movement. Some individuals who were progressive on one issue may be conservative on another. The progressive impulse included people who wanted to cleanse politics of corruption, tame the power of the trusts, and inject more liberty into American life. They fought against prostitution, gambling, drinking, and other vices. Although progressives often championed different, conflicting causes, most agreed on one issue: the need for an activist government to right political, economic, and social wrongs. They also came to believe that the federal government must become permanently active in order to alleviate the ills of society. This marked an important change in American politics. Americans had been suspicious of a strong federal government, believing that a strong centralized government could end liberty and abuse the people. In this way, the Progressives were optimistic. In other ways they were very practical.

Progressives believed the US was capable of improvement, but that the country couldn’t meet its destiny if it continued its untamed growth or expansion. They believed that the doctrines of laissez-faire economics and Social Darwinism were no longer sufficient for creating a prospering society.

Progressivism had two types of leaders guiding the change. First were the grassroots leaders of social progressivism. This progressive impulse was largely led by women, who looked to improve life in the cities, gain the vote for their gender, and see gains in the treatment of the poor, mentally ill, and minorities. Many of these goals were first seen during the Antebellum reform movements prior to the Civil War.