Term paper on Progressive Reforms Enacted

Progressive Reforms Enacted

Progressive era legislators enacted a host of political, economic, and social reforms at the city, state, and national levels of government. The agenda of reform politics included breaking the powers of political machines and extending the democratic process through women’s suffrage, the direct election of senators, and the initiative, referendum, and recall. Economic reforms centered on regulating big business and banking practices. Protecting women and children workers was also an important issue for reformers. Perhaps no other social reform engendered as much controversy as did the battle to enact prohibition.

Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Who was the more important presidential reformer, Theodore Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson?

2. Analyze the reform contributions of an important Progressive era governor or mayor.

3. How successful were efforts to destroy urban political machines?

4. Analyze Progressives’ attitudes toward immigrants and minorities.

5. Did Progressive era reforms make the United States a substantially more democratic nation?

Suggested Sources : See entries 7, 8, and 13 for related items.

REFERENCE SOURCES

Progressive Reform: A Guide to Information Sources . John D. Buenker and Nicholas C. Burckel. Detroit : Gale Research, 1989. Comprehensive bibliography of progressivism in U.S. politics, beginning with the nineteenth century.

GENERAL SOURCES

Bruchey, Stuart W. The Wealth of the Nation: An Economic History of the United States . New York : Harper&Row, 1988. Brief, comprehensive economic history; treatment of the rise of big business and the Progressive movement is excellent.

Jensen, Joan M. Army Surveillance in America . New Haven , CT : Yale University Press, 1991. Lucid and readable historical examination of the use of army surveillance in the United States . Informative chapters on its use against organized labor during the early years of this century.

Ladd-Taylor, Molly. Mother-Work: Women, Child Welfare, and the State, 1890–1930 . Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1994. Informative study of motherhood and child raising over several decades, including the Progressive era.

Wiebe, Robert H. The Search for Order, 1877–1920 . (1967). Reprint. Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1980. Important study by a leading historian challenging traditional reform claims for the Progressive era.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Berman, Jay S. Police Administration and Progressive Reform: Theodore Roosevelt as Police Commissioner of New York . Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1987. Brief survey of the Progressive movement and Roosevelt’s early years as the police commissioner.

Chambers, John W. The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1900–1917 . 2d ed. New York : St. Martin ‘s, 1992. Excellent coverage of all aspects of the era.

Colburn, David R., and George E. Pozzetta, eds. Reform and Reformers in the Progressive Era . Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1983. A collection of essays on various aspects of the Progressive era; looks at Al Smith, muckrakers, immigrants, John Reed, and others.

Diner, Steven J. A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era . New York : Hill&Wang, 1997. Good social history of working people during this time (industrial workers, farmers, immigrants, white-collar workers, etc.).

Frankel, Noralee, and Nancy Dye, eds. Gender, Class, Race, and Reform in the Progressive Era . Lexington : University of Kentucky Press, 1991. Stimulating series of essays presented at a conference held in 1988.

Link, William A. The Paradox of Southern Progressivism, 1880–1930 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. Good historical overview of the beginnings and development of the Progressive reform movement in the South.

Reese, William J. Power and the Promise of School Reform: Grassroots Movements during the Progressive Era . Boston : Routledge&Kegan Paul, 1986. Historical treatment of social reform in education during this period.

Sarasohn, David. The Party of Reform: Democrats in the Progressive Era . Jackson : University of Mississippi Press, 1989. Provocative study focusing on congressional Democrats as reformers.

Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. American Women in the Progressive Era, 1900–1920 . New York : Facts on File, 1993. Provides detailed and accurate treatment of both the domestic and working lives of American women.

Tiffin, Susan. In Whose Best Interest? Child Welfare Reform in the Progressive Era . Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1982. Examination of the child welfare movement.

Weisberger, Bernard A. The La Follettes of Wisconsin : Love and Politics in Progressive America . Madison , WI : University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. Story of America’s most influential state Progressive leaders.

Weser, Robert F. A Response to Progressivism: The Democratic Party and New York Politics, 1902–1918 . Chronological coverage of party politics in the Progressive era. Not limited to the Democratic party; also treats Republicans, Progressives, and Socialists in the peculiar makeup of New York City politics.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Fitzpatrick, Ellen F. Endless Crusade: Women Social Scientists and Progressive Reform . New York : Oxford University Press, 1990. Collective biography of female social reformers and social scientists during the period.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

The Progressive Movement. Wynewood, PA : Schlessinger/Library Video, 1996. Videocassette. 40-minute presentation on the roots of progressivism. Volume 14 of the 20-volume set, United States History Video Collection.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Schultz, Stanley K. American History 102—Civil War to the Present . (1998). http://hum.lss.wisc.edu/hist102/index.html University of Wisconsin course provides excellent narrative and relevant pictures. Click on ‘‘Student Web Notes” and see lectures 11 and 12 treating progressivism and morality of power with Roosevelt and Wilson.