Economic: "Free Silver"
Political cartoon of "Free Silver"
"Free Silver" was a highly debated topic during the years of progressvism. the movement for "Free Silver" supported unlimited coinage of silver. After the rise of corporations and the changes in markets the U.S. had to adjust, which was hard because many of the people in charge of the largest sums of money didn't understand the financial change yet. Also the financial cycle that causes U.S. economy to continuously move up and down made the changes harder to deal with and it was hard to decide on the correct system for unknown future.
Social: Muckrakers
Political cartoon of Muckrakers
Muckrakers were journalist that dug deep to write stories about the things corrupt people and businesses tried to hide. They exposed scandals, and potential threats to the working class. One of the most important scandals that was exposed by a Muckraker was the meat scandal. The Meat scandal was written about by Upton Sinclair who used his book The Jungle to expose corruption and horrible sanitation within the food processioning industry. This angered the public, forcing a widespread outcry for better conditions and national food processing and sanitation laws.
Political: The Women's movement
Symbol of a women's right organization
During the Progressive era a movement for more women's rights arose. This was called the Women's suffrage movement. Women were tired of being treated as though they were inferior to men and demanded political reforms that would give them equality. A large number of women were a part of this movement, or at least supported it. One of the main things that women began to argue for was the right to vote. Women wanted the same say in their government as men had, which would be given to them if they had the chance to vote on political matters. This movement is very important to American history and bring about many future changes for women, including the right to vote, take government office, and even the freedom of the 1920s flappers.
Do these events lead to progress?
The Political and Social aspects of Progressivism are important sign of historical progress, although the economic is harder to define as progress or not. The Muckrakers changed of the Progressive era provided a valuable service. These journalists stood up to the corrupt rich men and fought for justice for the lower classes. This gave the lower classes the inspiration and the will to fight, which then later resulted in important political reforms that this country needed for progress. The Political aspect, the women's suffrage movement, is important to the U.S. because it changes the way Women were viewed and opens the door for important achievements by women. It is hard to decide whether or not the "Free Silver" movement was beneficial for the U.S., which means it is hard to decide whether or not it shows progress. Although if one considers the political and social aspects of the time it can definitely be considered and example of progress in history.