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Movement of Progressivism

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The Progressive Party began to expand and really spark the American citizens throughout 1900-1920. This party included many big name reformers such a, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and William Howard Taft. As they took the political stage by storm, they had multiple main themes that they believed in. Progressivism believed in democracy, social justice, and regulation. When the Progressive party was in office through 1900-1920, they used these themes to help have success at the national level. The Progressive Era reformers and the federal government were for the most part successful, but they did also encounter some limitations during their era of 1900-1920 that cannot be overlooked. To start with, one of the Progressive Party’s main themes was democracy. The party faced a good amount of success at the national level, and also some fall backs. One way the party had success in the democracy department was the 17th Amendment, which was a very big step in the right direction. In a speech by Theodore Roosevelt, on February 22, 1912, he gives a prime example of the Progressive Party’s view on popular vote for senators. He says in this speech, “So actual experience has convinced us that senators should be elected by direct vote of the people”. The 17th Amendment is considered as success for the Progressive Party because the 17th Amendment states just that. Another way the Progressive Party encountered success the passing of the Voter Registration Law. This was a success because during this era, many immigrants were settling in the United States. With this law, it made it so people were not eligible to vote could not impact the polls of the elections. This was a success because the Progressive Party wanted to increase the effectiveness of democracy and voting. With all of the success that the Progressive Party had in democracy at the national level, they also faced one major problem. The problem was the decreasing about of eligible voters actually voting. In a graph of Percent of Eligible Voters Who Cast Ballots in Presidential Elections, it shows the depletion of votes casted. The graph takes place during the Progressive Era and in 1900, 73% of eligible voters casted a ballot. The percent of people casting votes dramatically plummeted, as in 1920 only 49% of eligible voters ca

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