The Progressive Movement In 20th Century America

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The past century saw major developments in the economic, social, political and cultural life of the United States as it grew from a burgeoning industrial nation to the world’s leading superpower. By the 1900s, giant firms such as Carneige Steel, The Standard Oil Trust, among a few others controlled 2/5th of the nation’s marketing capital. This resulted in a rapid increase in the number of industrial workers and even though the American society was growing wealthier overall, there were several thousands that still lived not only in poverty but also far below the poverty lines. It all began with rapid economic growth that was fueled with technological advancements in the field of electricity, communications, business machines, farm and industrial mechanization and most importantly, the railroads. America was on the threshold of change and throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, social movements shaped progressive thought. Renowned historian, Sidney Milkis characterized the accomplishments of the original Progressive Era as a “momentous reconstruction of politics,” a description that applied as equally to the numerous social movements that aimed to better align America’s political and social order with its ideals of liberty, equality and opportunity for all. However, the need to reconstruct the society only arose due to the rising unequality and discontent among the working class citizens who felt the need to protest. The organized responses that surfaced brought about the growth of social movements in 20th century America and that is the argument for this paper, that the growth of social and political movements was sparked as a result of a social and political exclusiveness. The poor and the marginalized never reaped the... ... middle of paper ... ...the African-American Civil Rights Movement was to end racial segregation and discrimination against black Americans. The NAACP was formed in 1909 and its mission was to “ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination." The Jim Crow statutes were laws of racial segregation that were enacted on a local and state level and made segregation mandatory in all public facilities. The early years of the NAACP focused on overturning these laws that had led to inferior treatment for the African Americans in question. All of these social movements arose in order to break down barriers for the poor, the marginalized and the disenfranchised. The world for several of these people was highly limited and all these movements were making at attempt to rectify the unjust social order.

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