Progressivism Historiography
Awesome Student
Mrs. Aars
CIS American History
15 March, 2013
My Take on the Progressives The common thought about progressivism before the 1950s were that it was a movement by the common people to curb the excessive power of powerful people such as urban bosses, corporate moguls, and corrupt officials. However, when George Mowry wrote his Progressivism: Middle Class Disillusionment, he challenged the common idea that the progressives were middle class citizens and instead considered them to be a privileged elite group of businessmen and professionals. Mowry believed that this group was trying to recover their fading influence from the capitalist institutions that has been replacing them. When Gabriel Kolko published his Triumph of Conservatism in 1963 his also did not agree that the progressives were middle-class citizens; rather he saw them as corporate leaders and liberal political leaders who were in the end not focused on helping the workers but instead focused on using the government to protect their corporations from competition. Anne Firor Scott wrote that the true progressives during that era were women; although there were men who also did things during the progressive era, the majority of it was done by women but they were neglected. They wanted to reform the social values and the nature of community life. Between all three authors, they all made very good points but when it comes to constructing their arguments Mowry and Scott did a better job because they backed up their statements with other sources.
According to Mowry, the progressives were a group of privileged elite businessmen and professionals; they included state level government officials and self-made men, others were from wealthy families. They were considered to be the “solid middle class”, generally young and of white background with a secure economic status and the college education. The main goal of these Progressives according to Mowry was to regain the influence that they used
Mrs. Aars
CIS American History
15 March, 2013
My Take on the Progressives The common thought about progressivism before the 1950s were that it was a movement by the common people to curb the excessive power of powerful people such as urban bosses, corporate moguls, and corrupt officials. However, when George Mowry wrote his Progressivism: Middle Class Disillusionment, he challenged the common idea that the progressives were middle class citizens and instead considered them to be a privileged elite group of businessmen and professionals. Mowry believed that this group was trying to recover their fading influence from the capitalist institutions that has been replacing them. When Gabriel Kolko published his Triumph of Conservatism in 1963 his also did not agree that the progressives were middle-class citizens; rather he saw them as corporate leaders and liberal political leaders who were in the end not focused on helping the workers but instead focused on using the government to protect their corporations from competition. Anne Firor Scott wrote that the true progressives during that era were women; although there were men who also did things during the progressive era, the majority of it was done by women but they were neglected. They wanted to reform the social values and the nature of community life. Between all three authors, they all made very good points but when it comes to constructing their arguments Mowry and Scott did a better job because they backed up their statements with other sources.
According to Mowry, the progressives were a group of privileged elite businessmen and professionals; they included state level government officials and self-made men, others were from wealthy families. They were considered to be the “solid middle class”, generally young and of white background with a secure economic status and the college education. The main goal of these Progressives according to Mowry was to regain the influence that they used