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Theodore Roosevelt: Progressive in the White House
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The Situation at the Turn of the Century: America in 1900:
The Gilded Age saw enormous industrial progress accompanied by the growth of appalling conditions in the slums of the cities and in the plight of farmers and others ground up by the "wheels of progress." The struggle between capital and labor (called a "war" by historian Page Smith) showed that Americans were prepared to fight for their economic rights, as they had done in 1776, and from 1861 to 1865. If the terrible conditions of the working poor had not been addressed, it is highly possible that some sort of revolution might have taken place. In fact, a revolution of sorts did take place, through it came largely from the top—or at least from the middle class. This revolution was called the Progressive Movement, and in many ways to was a conservative movement, not meant to upset society, but to fix what was wrong with it in order to retain its essential character.
The progress that Henry George had talked about in his work, Progress and Poverty, made possible the Progressive movement in many ways. Despite the harsh conditions for workers, living standards had risen dramatically for many since the Civil war. Education was expanded, people had more leisure time, newspapers, books and magazines proliferated, and a new breed of journalists began to examine American life in detail. These new journalists became known as the muckrakers, and they benefited from the wide circulation of magazines and newspapers made possible through advertising.
Although the muckrakers themselves were sometimes guilty of the things they complained about, muckraking, which we now call investigative journalism, became a highly respected vocation. Writers like Jacob Riis, Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell wrote long, detailed articles and entire books exposing fraud, waste, corruption and other evils in government, business and social structures such as the slums of the cities. They took on bossism, profiteering, child labor, public health and safety, prostitution, alcohol, political corruption and almost every aspect of public and even private life. They achieved some spectacular successes at virtually every level, from child labor laws across the country to prohibition at the national level.
There was a good deal of moralism in the Progressive movement, and Progressives were often seen as sanctimonious busybodies and meddlers, poking around in things that were none of their business. For others the Progressives, and the muckrakers who provided the raw material for those reformers, were upholding American values and the American way of life. For still others they were helping working people by rescuing capitalism from its worst excesses, and because businessmen were smart enough to see that discontented, angry workers were a threat to their livelihood, they often supported Progressivism and even led the charge, thought it might cost them in the short run. This phenomenon of short-term sacrifice for long-term advantage is an example of what is often called enlightened self-interest.
In the political arena the Progressives wanted goof government at all levels, and among their more notable achievements were the direct election of Senators and woman suffrage. But good government meant more than expanded democracy or honesty in public officials. Progressives wanted aggressive government that foresaw problems and acted to prevent calamities before they occurred rather than reacting to damage already done. Thus they demanded safety legislation, closer regulation of public health issues and better management of things like public utilities. They also sought to make government more efficient, so that the taxpayer got what he was paying for. If Americans did not have good, government, said the Progressives, the they had only themselves to blame. The Progressives were activists, generally impatient, often misguided, but rarely satisfied until they had achieved a good portion of their goals.
The roots of Progressivism go back to the Populist era. The Progressives did not discover for the first time that America had problems, nor were they the first reformers. But it was the largest movement of its kind in American history, and its effects were felt for a long time. Indeed, muckraking (ala 60 minutes) is still a popular indoor sport, and present day reformers often refer to themselves as Progressives. (It’s a term Republicans can use to avoid calling themselves liberals.)
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History 122 Writing Projects | Updated February 14, 2008