The Progressive Movement

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The Progressive Movement The Progressive Movement can be defined as a period of reform which lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s. (www.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/prog.htm Retrieved 11/2008 During this time Americans organized in voluntary associations to devise solutions to the myriad problems created by industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. The Progressive Movement was not a single movement but rather a collection of coalitions agitating for chances that often seemed to contradict each other. Many progressive reforms were aimed to increase democracy in America. This included women’s suffrage, the direct election of senators, the availability of the referendum, and the right to recall representatives whose behavior in office did not satisfy their constituents. There were also progressives who hoped to increase efficiency in governments there by eliminating the power of elected officials by choosing to use “experts” in their place, thereby putting the progressives at odds with one another. . (www.u-s-history.com/pages/h106.html) Retrieved 11/2008 Throughout the Progressive Movement there were several accomplishments. For example, Teddy Roosevelt ended the 1902 coal mine strike, used the Sherman Antitrust Act to attack a railroad monopoly (known as the Northern Securities Case), and added Departments of Labor and Commerce to the cabinet. Teddy Roosevelt also pushed the Hepburn Act (1906) and urged Congressional approval of the Pure Food and Drug Act. (1906). On a city and state level, city commissioners replaced mayors and city councils in some areas while city managers were hired to run small cities. These managers were nonpolitical professional managers. State level reforms consisted of direct primary to give voters control over candidates, competitive civil service and restrictions on lobbying, workmen’s compensation laws passed in many

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