Progressism vs. Populism

Americans were not aware of the division among populists and progressivists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, yet they were aware of the division between Democrats and Republicans. Populism referred to a particular political style, which expressed alienation and aggression and tend to hate Wall Street and bank interests. Progressivism was a movement of the college-educated urban middle class, which valued expertise and efficiency and favored government regulation and foreign affairs.

Populism, United States agrarian movement of the late 19th century that developed mainly in the area from Texas to the Dakotas and grew into a Farmer-Labor political coalition. The populist movement began during the economic depression of the 1870s, when there was a sharp decline in the income of farmers at a time when their living and operating costs were rising. The farmers began to organize early in the 1870s, and, during the ensuing two decades, large numbers of them joined such bodies as the National Grange and the Farmers' Alliances. The latter were cooperative organizations that hoped to lower farmers' costs by selling supplies at reduced prices, loaning money at rates below those charged by banks, building warehouses to store c

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

In foreign policy the era of Theodore Roosevelt was marked by the aggressive actions of the United States to expand its role as a world power.

Despite the brevity of its existence, the Populist movement exercised a profound influence on subsequent U.

In foreign affairs, the period of territorial acquisitions resulting from the Spanish-American War was quickly followed by military intervention and commercial penetration, something deeper than the considerable trade activity that had previously taken place. The United States had to contend with, among other things, the monopolistic practices of the large manufacturing firms; the abuses of the rapidly extending railroad systems; the changing status of the labor force, which was being transformed from skilled artisans into factory workers; the plight of farmers as they cultivated more efficiently with better machines and thus increased production, with consequent declining prices for their crops; and the demanding problems brought about the vast growth of cities. By 1891 the movement had gained sufficient strength to warrant a national political party. Woodrow Wilson, in his conduct of foreign policy, attempted to diminish American imperialism and to promote the development of democracy in the smaller nations. Populist influence peaked in 1896 when William Jennings Bryan, a Democrat who sympathized with the Populists' agenda, won his party's presidential nomination. The Populists endorsed Bryan, thus sacrificing their independent identity. After he was defeated, the Populist Party faded steadily from the political scene, disappearing about 1908. Wilson had a strong sense of right and wrong, which he applied to the handling of domestic matters and international relations. rops until prices became favorable, and taking political action to achieve these goals. The era was one of vigorous effort to remodel the structure of government, to further democratize its processes, and to make it an arbiter of social justice. Progressives advocated government intervention to address a variety of ills arising from industrialization and urbanization.

In 1913, after sixteen years of Republican rule, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was in the White House.

Approximate Word count = 1094
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.