Americans had always been preoccupied with reforming their society; with “making it over,” and between the 1890s and the end of the First World War, the reform spirit intensified. More and more people tried to address the problem of their time directly, to impose order on a confusing world, and, especially, to create a conflict-free society. Their efforts, inspired by a complicated mixture of calculated self-interest and unselfish benevolence, helped what can be called the Progressive era. The urge for reform had many sources. Industrialization had brought unprecedented productivity, awesome technology, and plenty of consumer goods. But it had also included labor struggle, waste of natural resources, and abuse of corporate power. Rapidly growing cities facilitated the accumulation and distribution of goods, services, and cultural amenities but also magnified problems of poverty, disease, crime, and political corruption. Massive inflows of immigrants and the rise of a new class of managers and professionals shook the foundations of old social classes. And the depression that crippled the nation in the 1890s made many leading citizens realize what working people had known for some time: the central promise of American life was not being kept; equality of opportunity—whether economic, political, or social—was a myth. }&)X4=
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Progressives tried to resolve these problems by organizing ideas and actions around three basic themes. First, they sought to end abuses of power. Second, progressives aimed to replace corrupt power with the power of reformed institutions such as schools, charities, medical clinics, and the family. Third progressives wanted to apply principles of science and efficiency on a nationwide scale to all economic, social, and political institutions, to minimize social and economic disorder and to establish cooperation, especially between business and government, that would end wasteful competition and labor conflict. XYtDovbv &
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Befitting their name, progressives had strong faith in the ability of humankind to create a better world. More than ever before, Americans looked to government as an agent of the people that could and should intervene in social and economic relations to protect the common good and substitute public interest for self-interest. 0b9;v lGq$
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D. to reform all the social evils and problems
