Prompt: "In your opinion, what was the most persuasive argument offered during the Progressive Era in favor of American overseas expansion? What was the most compelling argument offered against promoting such expansion?
Make sure the answer articulates a thesis and uses details from the files I attached below.
PROGRESSIVISM AND THE AGE OF REFORM 19 HST 106 – Spring 2021 Progressivism and Reform PROGRESSIVISM AND THE AGE OF REFORM We’re going to explore a subject that has really baffled historians for decades now and which has to be explained quite carefully: the era of Progressivism and reform This is the period from approximately 1890 to about 1920 It was a period of political and economic and social turbulence like the United States had rarely seen before --and which did much to shape the way we think today about subject like: --the organization and efficiency of our industrial economy --the role of the federal government in regulating business --in the duties of society to the less fortunate among us Historians agree that this era of Progressivism and reform really shaped the way liberalism evolved in twentieth century America But beyond that, they can’t agree on much about this period It’s just one of those subjects that seems to get farther away, more difficult to put your finger on, the closer you get to it. What was Progressivism and who were the Progressives? --How did they try to reform the American economy, government and society? It may really be impossible to talk about Progressivism as a coherent movement or ideology Maybe it’s more accurate to describe it as a reforming “impulse” --that sprang up in a number of different regions of the country --and many different segments of society at the same time. Who were the Progressives? --Scholars used to think they knew the answer to this question. --Richard Hofstadter, who was a great American historian during the middle years of the twentieth century, argued that the Progressive era, the Age of Reform, came to be dominated by members of the traditional American white middle class --who were anxious about the impact industrialization and urbanization and immigration on their own kind --They suffered from a kind of “status anxiety” --and wanted to reassert their authority in American society by spearheading a new era of reform --which would put them back at the top of the American social and political ladder. But Hofstadter’s ideas fell out of favor in the turbulent 1960’s --and historians began to look at Progressivism as a really diverse and multifaceted phenomenon --They pointed out that women and African-Americans, and immigrants, and radicals, and Jews, and crusading Protestant groups, among others, had all left their mark on the Progressive era --and that many of the people who thought of themselves as Progressives were actually working to achieve very different and, frequently, contradictory goals In fact, historians got so frustrated trying to define Progressivism that one guy, Peter Filene wrote what he called an “obituary” for the movement: --He thought that so many people claimed to be Progressives and their solutions to society’s ills were so various and contradictory that scholars should just stop trying to impose any kind of order on their efforts. So, you can see this has been a really thorny issue for those of us who try to make sense of the past for a living! And this is the knotty problem we’re going to try to disentangle today And I want to emphasize today the following points about Progressivism: --First of all, the “Progressive Movement” (if you choose to call it that) was motivated largely by a belief that the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the United States in the late 19th century had created some pretty intolerable problems that needed to be addressed immediately --Secondly, if we are pressed to simplify, the Progressives fell into several pretty identifiable categories which were concerned with different issues: --There were those who worked to stem corruption in government --at the municipal, state, and federal levels --There were others concerned with the shape of the industrial economy and issues of anti-monopoly --restoring smallness and competitiveness in the modern industrial economy --There were still other Progressives interested in encouraging an activist government which worked to regulate business --and, finally, those Progressives who worked to ensure the social welfare of all Americans, particularly the least privileged among them --Third, some elements of Progressivism, despite their intention to do good and improve society, espoused some pretty unappealing and authoritarian ideas by today’s standards --Some Progressives emphasized in their teachings the necessity to enforce some very severe codes of public morality --and to build structures that reinforced the prevailing social order --So, in some of its manifestations, Progressivism was kind of backwards and Victorian looking rather than forward looking and liberal --Finally, Progressivism and the accomplishments of the Progressive Era had an important impact on American political and social policies throughout the 20th century --They anticipated future efforts to give the government the means to improve the lives of all Americans But, let’s take a step back and look at the world the Progressives lived in The years around the turn of the twentieth century were, as Charles Dickens might have said, “the best of times and the worst of times” in the United States. This was an era of profound change in America --It was the period when Frederick Jackson Turner was arguing that the American frontier was coming to a close --with important and troubling ramifications for American democracy --and when the Western “Indian Wars” had been put to an end by the massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota So, an epoch was ending in American history and in American mythology It was a period of great uncertainty but also of great optimism On the optimistic side: --People believed the turbulence of past decades could be superseded. --believed they could put the problems caused by the Civil War and Reconstruction in the past --It was as historian Richard Hofstadter put it, “The Age of Reform” --People could improve their domestic and work environment; using their intellect, science, and technology to improve their world. --Organized action, through labor unions and civic groups could produce reforms in the government, society, and economy. --An energetic activist government could help lead this change But this was also a period of great social, political and economic flux: --In the nineteenth century, the U.S. had been a nation of small towns, of “island communities” --But the industrial boom of the late 19th century Americans changed that forever. --Americans from the countryside and a flood of new immigrants poured in the nation’s urban centers We’ve seen that the American economy was transformed in the late 19th century from one based on small, family-owned businesses to one dominated by a highly integrated system of large stockholder-owned corporations --And that this period was one of unprecedented and explosive economic growth in the United States --The 1890s was the period of what one historian, Walter LaFeber, has called the Second Industrial Revolution --it was a revolution driven by new technologies --by the change from steam to electricity, iron to steel alloys, telegraphs to telephones, simple machines to dynamos and internal combustion engines --and these technologies, as well as new forms of business organization, gave rise to the great American business corporations of the era But businessmen felt great anxiety The United States experienced great economic fluctuations during this period There was great worker discontent in 1880’s and 1890’s --The relationship between labor and management was difficult and often violent in this period --This was also the period when the first nationally organized labor unions began to make their voices heard in the United States --groups like Terence Powderly’s Knights of Labor --and its successor, Samuel L. Gompers’s American Federation of Labor We’ve also seen how agrarian unrest in the American heartland led to the rise of the Populist Party --which demanded radical changes in the American political economy --and whose views helped establish the political debate surrounding the 1896 presidential election The Republican candidate, Ohio’s William McKinley won 1896 election --The United States pulled out of economic doldrums for next 20 years --This really marked the kick off of the Progressive Era --There was general feeling that people could improve government, preserve stability --People began to look to government to improve their lives --But, there was the possibility that too much government intervention would undermine the basic structures of a capitalist and liberal society --Big challenge was to find the best mix of government intervention and non-intervention to preserve stability, economic freedom, and equality of opportunity But who was going to determine this mix? We’ve already seen how the old middle class, the new immigrants, the industrial workers, and the farmers were trying to look after themselves in the 1890s But there was a new addition to this social mix: the members of a “new middle class” --This was an, educated, professional managerial class --that helped manage the nation’s urban and industrial growth --and staffed the front offices of the nation’s largest companies --and who profited by the growth of the American industrial economy By and large, the members of this “new middle class” saw the changing American economy and the marketplace in positive terms --There may have been some economic and social disruptions that resulted from industrialization and urbanization --but all in all, the new economy was bringing opportunities for them and their children --As a result, the members of the new middle class saw no reason to question the old adage “that government governs best which governs least” But the great Depression of the 1890’s began to change the mind of many middle class Americans --It really seemed to point out the fragility of American industrialism --Corporations that had antagonized American workers and farmers now adopted policies that antagonized the new middle class --As their revenues declined, corporations took measures that hit the middle class directly --they increased their prices --and lobbied their local and national lawmakers for tax-supported relief measures Also, a new breed of crusading journalists, the “Muckrakers” began to expose what they saw as “corporate arrogance” in the United States --Lincoln Steffens exposed municipal corruption in McClure’s magazine an in the book The Shame of the Cities --Ida Tarbell took on the Standard Oil Company in the pages of the same magazine --and Upton Sinclair indicted the meat packing industry in his extremely influential novel The Jungle Corporate arrogance wasn’t just the railroads charging high rates to Western farmers --It