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The Progressive Era was a time span in American history during which themes of liberalism and national reform were pursued. While scholars disagree as to the particular time span this era encompassed, the span of 1902-1920 will be discussed here. As stated, the Progressive Era was a time period when high ideals about humanitarianism and human rights flourished and America took steps to improve human rights across the globe. However, while pursuing a better world, America violated its own citizens’ rights. By executing a draft for World War I, America forced millions of—often unwilling—citizens into service, America deprived its people of their right to freedom. Additionally, the multitude of Prohibition laws that were passed at both state and national levels revoked citizens’ long-standing liberty to produce, transport, and sell alcohol. On top of that, the rights that common workers had during the Progressive Era were terrible, having not been improved much at all since the beginning of America. While Progressive Era leaders did introduce worker’s compensation, they did little to fight the prevalence of child labor and the disproportionately low wages laborers were paid in comparison with the profits the company owners brought in.

The Progressive Era was led by politicians and reformers who shared liberal views of how to make America, and the world, better. Progressives first focused on purifying the government (Progressive), and later moved on to address many of the biggest issues that were present in America. Some of the topics they addressed in legislature and in theory were education, women’s rights, laborers’ rights, safe food and drugs, proper medicine practices, and financial institutions (Progressive). The Progressives had ideas about how to make America better and they genuinely believed that they could accomplish their plans.

The high ideals of the Progressives included the belief in the value of human rights, which were being violated by the Axis powers in World War I. There were many Progressives who wanted to join the war simply to stop the human rights violations, but instead President Wilson and Congress waited until after America had been provoked by the sinking of some of its merchant ships by Axis Germany. When American politicians decided to enter the war, they also decided to use conscription to raise their army. The draft, as it has come to be called, was an example of a human rights violation that America committed against its people. By forcing people that the government leaders deemed capable to serve in a war that the individual citizens may have either agreed or disagreed with, America violated its citizens’ right to choose whether or not to participate in the military.

One of the most memorable events of the Progressive Era after World War I is certainly Prohibition, including the long process leading up to its eventual fruition as an amendment to the Constitution. The anti-alcohol movement could be traced back to the Second Great Awakening (Progressive), when increasingly religions reformers identified alcohol as being detrimental to family life and good citizenship. During the Progressive Era, the Progressives targeted alcohol for these same basic reasons, among other, more specific reasons, such as the belief that alcohol fostered both domestic abuse and poor work ethics amongst laborers. Many states passed their own separate Prohibition laws, but when three-fourths of the states ratified the 18th Amendment in 1919, Prohibition became a national law, and removed citizens’ right to produce, transport, and sell alcohol. Although drinking alcohol was never officially outlawed, Prohibition, in principle, mandated the destruction or repurposing of vast companies and establishments revolving around the business of making, transporting, and selling alcohol. By denying these people the right to maintain their businesses, America violated those citizens’ rights. Even though Prohibition didn’t explicitly prohibit drinking alcohol, it did severely limit its supply and thus denied the product to many Americans, who had their right to buy and consume alcohol, which they had since the beginning of America, limited.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in America, conditions for workers in factories had been horrific. These conditions were helped slightly, but they were mostly unchanged when the Progressive Era started. A major concern of Progressives was the improvement of laborer’s rights. This was really a double concern; the human rights violations in many industries were bad enough to warrant Progressivism to demand its correction and Progressive politicians could win the favor of the common working voter by improving their conditions at work. Even with both of these incentives to help laborers, the Progressive Era proved mostly unfruitful for laborers. While laborers gained worker’s compensation, big business owners and industrialists convinced Progressives not to improve workers’ rights substantially or it would have meant reduced profits for them. By conceding to the desires of the rich business owners, the Progressives were defeating one of their very own ideals, which was the purity of government. They were basically listening to the rich business owners only because they had great influence.

While the Progressive Era did advance many noble causes, American Progressives did so while suppressing some Americans’ human rights. Some examples of instances from 1902-1920 when America’s Progressive ideals actually harmed Americans’ human rights are Prohibition, drafting during World War I, and the inefficiency of the Progressives in dealing with rights of laborers, even though they claimed that they wanted to improve the laborer’s life. Sometimes in pursuit of a higher cause, it is possible to absentmindedly effect a negative change before the gains are revealed. While the Progressive Era as a whole produced much positive change in many of the areas Progressives targeted as lacking, they did so while denying citizens some of their rights.

Works Cited

"Labor in Progressive Era Politics." //Shmoop//. Shmoop University. Web. 08 Mar. 2012.

"Learn About the Progressive Era." //Digital History//. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

"Progressive Era." //Wikipedia//. 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2012.