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The Progressive Era
The Progressive Era
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1.REFORM EFFORTS OF THE PROGRESSIVE ERA AND THE GROUPS INVOLVED IN THE REFORM
The reform movement took prominence in order to correct the inequalities in American society. The movements were spurred by middle class constituency of American public since they had enough time, money and desire to change the lives of others. Some of the most notable groups of people involved in the struggle to improve livelihoods included women and the Social Gospel Movement.
Women were initially restricted to a domestic role but with the advent of the postindustrial era many got factory jobs. With that came increased power since women also took up professional …show more content…
The movement sought to extend the love of Jesus Christ by encouraging equality in society and opposing social Darwinism. Some of the most famous proponents of this movement founded in the 1880s were Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch (Schultz 2013).
2. METHODS USED BY THE VARIOUS STATES TO BRING OUT REFORMS DURING PROGRESSIVE ERA
In the pace of the progressive reform movement, reformists realized that the movement was fulfillable politically. With that in mind, they attempted to influence both federal and state governments. Among the initiatives used to implement their school of thought were democratization trends and professional administrators.
Democratization trends followed the principle of taking power from a politically connected cronyism and giving it to the people. Some of the methods included the election of state senators by direct voting instead of by state assemblies. There was also the introduction of initiative and referendums. Here, the citizens could collect signatures on a particular issue and it would be subjected to a vote in the state. Once passed the initiative became state law without majority approval in the state assembly (Schultz …show more content…
Its reconstruction efforts took off and soon enough the US economy was booming giving the nation a new sense of purpose. It was only a matter of time till the nation directed this power towards the world seeking to expand its horizons and the reach of its power. The advent of the 20th century brought with it an expansionist spree for the United States.
The reasons behind this expansion can be categorized into three broad motivations. At the forefront was the need to extend its economic muscle by earning more resources from other territories. It was the belief of the businesspeople that American industry could grow if it had access to new markets. Next motivation came from the fact that the states needed a strong military presence to protect its economic gains from perceived enemies. Furthermore, the US was guided by their religious and moral motivations. The believed it was their moral duty to free and liberate indigenous races from savagery, consequently civilize them and instill Christian beliefs in them. Geopolitically, with the spread of colonization in Africa and Asia, the United States believed that it risked losing out of global power ranks if it did not expand like the European powers (Schultz