Progressivism in the United States

Paper Summary:

The Progressive Reform Movement in the United States' history refers to the broad-based campaign for economic, political and social reforms that sought to promote social justice and curtail the powers of big business, by greater involvement of the federal government in regulatory activities. Although most of the "Progressive Reforms" are deemed to have occurred in the period 1890 to 1920, some historians include the New Deal reforms carried out by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency (1933-1945) as part of the Progressive Reforms. This paper examines and discusses the ways in which the federal government in the United States expanded its powers from 1890 to 1945; how this affected the American society and whether this expansion of governmental power benefit the country or not.

Paper Outline:
Introduction
Background
Progressive Reforms
Theodore Roosevelt and Government Regulation of Big Business
Woodrow Wilson Continues the Progressive Reforms
FDR's New Deal
Did the Expansion of Government's Powers Benefit the Country?
Works Cited

From the Paper:

"The end of the Civil War and the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the United States saw the unprecedented growth of urban cities, the proliferation of privately owned industries and the mechanization of agriculture. The 19th century also brought about the formation of "corporations" (as opposed to individual businesses) and "trusts" (a form of merger of competing firms that created monopolies). This resulted in the rise of privately owned monopolies and the so-called "robber barons" such as John D. Rockefeller, owner of the Standard Oil Trust, who once boasted that he had several government functionaries including a number of Governors "in his pocket." (Moore, 1999)"

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