ABSTRACT
By the 1890s, the United States had emerged as a major economic power. But Americans struggled with the widespread effects of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. Modernization disrupted older ways of life, even as it built considerable wealth among the elite. Many reformers turned away from laissez-faire ideas about government, demanding a larger, more active government to respond to economic inequalities. The People’s, or Populist, Party challenged two-party politics and the strength of big business and the railroads, representing the voices of farmers, westerners, and southerners who felt neglected by Wall Street. But progressivism could mean different things. For the white South, it could mean reestablishing segregation and local control. For advocates of the Social Gospel, it meant organization (both local and governmental) to assist the poor and laboring class. For women, it could mean demanding a greater voice in politics and the workplace. Uniting these disparate threads, progressive reform sought to identify what was wrong with life in the US, and how they might fix it through active participation in political and social projects.
