The progressive movement was a period of development in American history. It had some great causes which it wished to achieve, such as the well-known cause of getting women to vote; and the humane causes of discouraging child labor and encouraging worker rights. Progressivists also disliked large companies, or merging businesses in order to form huge business or large corporations- because these could easily monopolize the industry and the economy of the United States.
One of the many roots of Progressivism was fighting government corruption and inefficiency. Progressivists had an overall positive view of peoples' basic nature. They believed that social problems stemmed not from the peoples' faults, but from politicians who made selfish choices and did not consider the good of the people.
Another root of Progressivism was the birth of the industrial era between 1897 and 1904. In 1899 different industrial companies began to merge. Progressivists were afraid of "bigness"- if one company got too powerful, then it could achieve a monopoly over other businesses and also treat their workers how they would like because of no competition to persuade them to treat workers better. These fears pushed Progressiveists to demand "trusts" to be dissolved or at the very least to have such big corporations on a tight leash by the government.
Tying in with the workers' rights, was another root of Progressivism- the rights of the poor. It is in this area of progressivism that women are most noted. Urban people in poverty had awful working and living conditions. These conditions were so bad the these people were often referred to "slum dwellers". Another problem the Progressivists wished to tackle was that of child labor, and hours and working conditions (especially for women). Progressivists pushed strongly for eight hour days, arguing that poor people could advance their lots by educating themselves in those extra hours in the day, and also that people would live longer because they wouldn't be wearing themselves out working long, hard jobs. Another problem in working conditions in safety- with the industrial era came, obviously, machinery, which had to be operated by people. Machinery came invariably with accidents- injured workers. Progressivists wanted safety rules enforced to prevent injuries on the job. Correspondingly, compensation or insurance for injured workers was pushed for.
Progressivism broke the Republican party in twain, with Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt leading the Progressive Republicans and William Howard Taft leading the more laid-back Republicans, which were referred to as the "Old Guard". This split-up resulted in favorable conditions for the Democrats in the election of 1912 (Woodrow Wilson was elected because the Republican Party had split their votes).
In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt wanted to set-up a new social legislative program which would be called New Nationalism. This program would be against special privileges, against wealthy people getting money by breaking laws, and the program would encourage the government having more control. Around that period of time, George W. Perkins and Frank Munsley egged Roosevelt on to start a new party. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt ended up taking their advice and was nominated the President of the Progressivist Party and the Progressive party's first convention in Chicago. It was at this time that Roosevelt said he felt "as strong as a bull moose." This statement followed him throughout the rest of his political career. At this conference, Roosevelt called for a "confession of faith". He represented his party in wanting strict regulation of corporations, national presidential primaries, minimum wage for workers, workers' compensation laws, no child labor, and other reformative motions.
Among Progressivisms many effects on the nation, the one which stands out most clearly is Women's Suffrage. Women's Suffrage was born from Progressivism and was fueled by the same spirit- equal rights for all. An argument for women being able to vote was posted in a 1911 women's suffrage parade. The poster read, "New York Sate denies the vote to criminals, lunatics, idiots, and women." This demonstrates the gender inequality of that time period. Why were women not allowed to vote? It occurred to many that the reason may just be that women were thought to be less competent than men. There were two very large women's suffrage associations- the AWSA(American Woman's Suffrage Association) and the NWSA (National Woman's Suffrage Association). The AWSA was mostly concerned with women being able to vote. The NWSA was concerned with many other issues as well as women voting. Two famous people from the NWSA were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who led this association and are well-known for their work in progressing women's rights.
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