The activity of populists and progressives intensified in the late 19th and early 20th, as the aftermath of the Gilded Age. During this time, although there was significant economic growth, the American population faced increased injustice and ignorance from the wealthiest part of the population. The resistance movement received its form because of the increased movement of people from the countryside to concentrated urban areas. These deteriorating conditions resulted in massive accidents, poverty, and inequality in rights and power. Therefore, the struggle to be represented and heard intensified in this period. The main thesis of this essay is that the progressive reformists of the 1890s and 1900s held a brilliant moral position, but their rejection of direct action and belief in compromise led to their decline.
The grievance on the impacts of the Gilded Age was dispersed across different issues, so the reformers were quite heterogeneous in their worldviews. For example, one of the prominent reformist thinkers of the late 19th century was Walter Rauschenbusch, a theologian and Baptist pastor. His motivation was to promote the notion of the social gospel, that is, the application of Christian ethics to social problems. Thus, Rauschenbusch’s approach was to point out the “voice of prophecy” and the relationship between democracy and Christianity. Another branch of reformers appeared from the women’s movement, particularly Jane Addams. She perceived the situation differently, fighting for women’s suffrage and more humanistic conditions for workers. Besides, environmentalist and African American movements also proclaimed their demands.
The main feature of the progressive movement of the 1890s and 1900s was its reluctance to rely on direct action and violent confrontation against corrupted authorities. A bright example to illustrate this tendency is the activity of Jane Addams. Being Protestant, she always tried to find a peaceful solution that would not cause violent confrontations. Hence, it is required to find common moderate grounds that may not fully satisfy the needs of the people. This rejection of active protest was also why the Jim Crow segregation laws continued.
Although the ethical grounds for reformist actions might be different, they all were aimed at fighting against moneyed interest groups in power. The ethical considerations of reformers can be seen as precursors to future worldviews that will value well-being, equality, and inclusion. As Herbert Croly, one of the intellectual leaders of the progressive movement, points out, the activity of reformers was perceived as “the promise of American life”. In addition, Jane Addams established settlement houses for poor people, which also says about the virtue of the reformers. However, the indecisiveness and peacefulness of the reformers could not break the system of injustice, racism, election fraud, and dirty business struggle. McGerr indicates that the faith that reformers may reach an agreement with the federal authorities failed. The dominant Republican agenda of free market and individualism won the political struggle, but the time of the Great Depression was on the horizon.
To conclude, this essay discusses the populist and progressive era in American history. Initially, reformists capitalized on the overall discontent over ineffective governmental policies, corruption, and increasing inequality. Progressive intellectuals, which were politically diverse, formulated a reform programme based on social welfare in religious terms, women’s suffrage, and environmental protection. Nevertheless, more powerful federal power agencies were able to ignore reformers and continue their policy of laissez-faire.
Bibliography
Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull-House. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1990.
Baker, Andrew et al. “The Progressive Era.” In The American Yawp, edited by Joseph Locke and Ben Wright, 109-139. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019.
Croly, Herbert. The Promise of American Life. New York: Northwestern University Press, 2005.
Flanagan, Maureen. America Reformed: Progressives and Progressivisms, 1890s– 1920s. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
McGerr, Michael. A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870–1920. New York: Free Press, 2003.
Rauschenbusch, Walter. A Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917.