Progressive Movements in the 19th Century

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In the early 1900 the face of American culture changed drastically. Thanks to the innovations of technology developed during the Second Industrial Revolution, America was able to consolidate its rural and urban cultures into a single homogeneous entity by 1920. This was the Progressive Era. It was known as the Progressive Era because during this period, famous reforms such as the Federal Reserve, the National Highway System, and Woman’s Suffrage were adopted nationally. However, not all of the concepts of progressivism were implemented during this period. There was also a balance between the principles of Roosevelt Progressivism and Wilsonian Idealism. Indeed, the 18th and 19th amendments to the Constitution created the prohibition and spawned one of the largest controversies in American History. The most famous of the Progressives, President Theodore Roosevelt, supported the National Health Care System. Even to this day the Health of citizens remains in private hands. Unfortunately for progressives the cultural paradigm change they helped initiate created a paradox; at the same time as increasing living standards and industrial diversification, the natural rights of citizens were corroded to make way for one of the largest expansions of government in US history. With the creation of the Underwood Tariff Act in the 1900s, an illegal graduated income tax was imposed upon citizens by the federal government. After the US entered the First World War the cultural traits of nationalism expanded with the Sedition and Espionage Acts which limited citizens’ rights further in the name of the United States. Under President Woodrow Wilson, a period of “Peace Progressivism” spread. The idealism Wilson possessed allowed the US to improve domestic conditions while pursuing a policy of directed peace. This Bi Partisan Progressivism showed the popularity of this movement which
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