20th Century
Ms. Shen
Name: _______________________________
Intro to the Progressive Movement [1890s – 1914]
I. The Gilded Age [1870ish – 1890ish]: Called the “Gilded Age” by Mark Twain: a phrase that suggests a
glittery and glamorous veneer, but one that is incredibly shallow—as gilded literally means “having a pleasing
or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth” (dictionary.com).
Consider what made the late 1800s and early 1900s “Gilded.”
II.
Roots of Progressivism –
a. Social Gospel Movement (1880s-1890s)
i. Goal: to “build the kingdom of God on earth by eliminating poverty and promoting
equality” – MEANING?
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ii. A social reform movement that developed within religious institutions
iii. Beliefs of followers of the Social Gospel:
b. Settlement House Movement: put the Social Gospel Movement into practice. Offered
social services, charity by way of $ given by well-intentioned outsiders, believed that in order
to find out what was most helpful/needed by the poor, one had to live among the poor.
III. What you may be asking was Progressivism?
a. Dictionary.com defines “Progressive” as:
i. favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to
wishing to maintain things as they are, esp. in political matters
ii. making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened
or liberal ideas, new or experimental methods, etc
iii. Moving forward; advancing
b. Progressives looked to the problems of society (corruption, poverty, violence, etc.) and tried
to fix them largely by getting the government to play a bigger role in society.
c. Many Progressives challenged the ideology of ________________________________ WHY?
d. What were some of the problems that needed to be addressed or changed in order to
move forward?
Lots of problems to address:
e. Progressives were ___________________ and hopeful spirit of the new century.
f. They saw the need to improve govt. so it was more responsive to the people. They felt that
private efforts to address these problems were inadequate. There were too many needy
people and too many problems to address on only with the help of private charities. To this
end, Progressives began to argue that the govt. had to become more actively involved in
addressing the nation’s ills
g. There was not one single “progressive movement” – rather, there were a number of
movements focusing on the problems created by a rapidly expanding urban/industrial
world.
i. Progressive focused on many different issues. At times, their efforts seemed contradictory as
there was not one single type of progressive.
ii. Progressives worked to improve housing, schools, and the lives of the poor and immigrants;
some wanted to reform working conditions and the rights of labor; others wanted to reform
the political system to have it reflect their interests.
iii. Many groups/ideologies combined under the banner of Progressivism: Nativism,
prohibition, Purity Crusaders (anti-vice), settlement workers, Social Gospel
h. While they may seem to be focused on a million different issues, all progressives
shared three overarching goals. These three goals were:
i. To end the ______________________________________
ii. To end _________________________________________
iii. To apply scientific principles and studies to better understand and address social
problems
IV. Who were the Progressives in terms of…
Political
inclination
Class and race
“Attitudes”
toward the poor