The Progressive Era: Conflicting Viewpoints

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The Progressive Era: Conflicting Viewpoints

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Two people witnessing the same event can have very different views on it depending on their information and perspective. The presentation of history also changes depending on the resources and prior prejudices and personal views of the historian. Four historian’s interpretations on the Progressive Era and Progressivism were reviewed to determine whether their arguments and use of evidence were sound. Also, the particular known views of the historian were occasionally taken into account. Each of these works has its own particular view on the Progressive Era and its importance in history.

In The Age of Reform, Richard Hofstadter reviews both the Populist and Progressive movements from a psychological standpoint. He maintains that both were groups, Populist farmers and Progressive long- established wealthy professionals, known as mugwumps, both of which formerly had had much power and influence in the United States and were being overshadowed by the growing importance of cities and the nouveau riche, respectively. Hofstadter’s main arguments are taken from the novels, magazines, poetry, other literature, fiction and popular myths that abounded in the two groups. Hofstadter maintains that these two groups were created because the industrialization of the United States and the rise of cities and big business had resulted in a status revolution, and the Populist and Progressive movements were just attempts to retain and regain position by the farmers and mugwumps. Populism, however, was a rural movement, while Progressivism took Populism and turned it into a large, national movement.

According to Hofstadter, the Populist movement was created mainly because...

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... least believable. Although he does make some interesting psychological hypotheses, his contentions are not backed up by few solid facts, and rest almost entirely on a selective few pieces of literature, almost all of which show an extreme slant. Filene, who presents perhaps the more radical view of the progressive movement, the idea that the movement never in fact existed, uses sound evidence and statistics to support his arguments. Although he took perhaps the most radical stand on Progressivism, his arguments were the most persuasive, due to logical presentation and ample foundations on facts. Both McCormick and Baker focused on one aspect of Progressivism, McCormick on the corruption of government by private businesses, and Baker on the women’s movement. Both historians based their arguments on fact, and used rational reasoning to come to their conclusions.

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