Thursday, May 11, 2017

What made it difficult for all Progressive activists to present a united front?

Progressive activists had a difficult time presenting a united front due to the wide variety of goals that each of them had. The Progressive Era had many different issues that the activists wanted to address. The issues present in the Progressive Movement ranged from women's suffrage, to temperance, to workers' rights. And while the leaders that spearheaded one issue may have also supported one of the others, they inevitably prioritized their own issue. For example, a woman that headed the women's suffrage movement may have also supported workers' rights. However, that woman would more than likely prioritize advancing the agenda of women's suffrage and the passage of laws that allowed it over legislation that granted rights to workers. And it went even further than that. A group working for miners would prioritize the passage of legislation for miner's rights over factory worker's rights, even if that miners' group might have theoretically supported all workers' rights in general. The issue here was that there were so many issues that characterized the Progressive Era that it became almost impossible to present a single united front when there were so many different agendas at play. They may have been interrelated and they may have all supported each other but each group would prioritize their own work over the others. It was this problem that made it difficult for Progressive activists to present a united front.

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