Michael McGerr

Enjoyed this readable account of America's first (of many) flirtations with Progressivism, which explores everything from politics to economics, society, and culture. McGerr never strays far from his central thesis - that the Progressive movement represented a shift from individualism ("Anything can be achieved through hard work") to collectivism ("We have a responsibility to our fellow man, especially the ones that have no power"), from Victorianism (traditional domesticity) to modernism (self-actualization), with a heavy emphasis on solidifying the power, prosperity, and moral compass of the middle class. This hypothesis provides a useful lens for contextualizing the many subtopics that this book addresses, which include:

* The Rise of Progressivism (the social and cultural forces that triggered dissatisfaction)
* Transforming Americans (the Progressives' attempts to regulate behaviour and curtail exploitation)
* Ending class conflict (their attempts to empower workers through collective organization)
* Controlling big business (their efforts to reign in the unethical practices of monopolies)
* Segregation (the extent of their many failures, and the reasons for them)
* Technology & entertainment (how the rise of individual pleasures undermined the Progressive agenda)
* How WW1 brough Progressivism to an end (at least temporarily, as the US has continually lurched between Progressivism and Conservatism ever since)

Each chapter begins by focusing on the story of an individual, before expanding to explore the wider issues and then eventually circling back to reflect on the implications on the individual whose story began the discussion, a technique that adds a level of personalization that these kinds of historical analyses often lack.

There's a staggering amount of research here, but the author does a good job of keeping things moving and resists the urge to get too far down in the weeds. McGerr lacks the storytelling chops of a Doris Kearns Goodwin or David McCullough, but I still ended up reading this whole thing in just three long sessions because the subject matter is so fascinating ... and so timely. Looking for insights into potential outcomes of our recent jarring cycle of progressivism --> conservativism? unregulated capitalism vs. social justice? nativism vs. assimilation? The impact of technological innovation on culture? Looking back to what happened in the past is always a great place to start.… (meer)

In A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, Michael McGerr argues “that progressivism created much of our contemporary political predicament. The epic of reform at the dawn of the twentieth century helps explain the less-than-epic politics at the dawn of the twenty-first. Progressivism, the creed of a crusading middle class, offered the promise of utopianism – and generated the inevitable letdown of unrealistic expectations” (pg. xiv). He shifts the historiography to look “at four quintessential progressive battles: to change other people; to end class conflict; to control big business; and to segregate society” (pg. xv). While McGerr focuses on the usual historical actors, he also draws upon the experiences of Jane Addams and her parents, Russian immigrants Golub and Rahel, and the Garland family.
McGerr ties the beginning of the Progressive Era to the Victorian middle class’ discontent with the upper class’ lavish lifestyle. He writes, “By the turn of the century, middle-class men and women, radicalized and resolute, were ready to sweep aside the upper ten and build a new, progressive America” (pg. 39). Alongside this conflict, “across Victorian America, women demanded new opportunities outside the home” (pg. 51). While the era witnessed many disparate conflicts, “the progressives, driven by their project to transform relations between men and women, end class conflict, and make the nation more middle-class, were almost always in the thick of the fighting” (pg. 79). McGerr demonstrates that progressives’ utopian idealism did not extend to race relations. He writes, “There were limits to the progressives’ optimistic faith in transforming other people. Segregation revealed both a sense of realism and an underlying pessimism in the middle class. Even as they labored urgently to end the differences between classes, the progressives felt some social differences would not be erased for many years. And some differences, they believed, could not be erased at all” (pg. 183). This led to an acceptance of Southern Jim Crow segregation and Northern segregation. McGerr traces the decline of progressivism to new entertainments and pleasure-seeking activities in the early 1900s (pg. 260) coupled with the Red Scare (pg. 306) and the “reemergence of political conservatism after years of defeat and demoralization” in the 1920 election (pg. 310). In his conclusion, McGerr argues that the failure of progressivism limited policies that appeared to take similar approaches, such as the New Deal or the Great Society.
A Fierce Discontent draws upon social, political, and economic history and resembles Eric Foner’s Reconstruction in that it primarily synthesizes much of the previous research on the subject while offering a new perspective through his use of vignettes, like that of Rahel Golub, that differ from the usual top-down approach to the Progressive Era.… (meer)

Good Overview of the Progressive Movement: McGerr's book is a valuable resource on helping to define who the progressives were and what they wanted to accomplish. The Progressives were at their peak in influence from the late 19th Century until the end of World War I, from Theodore Roosevelt's administration to Woodrow Wilson's administration. As McGerr stated, Progressives wanted to transform Americans into their own image of a middle class society, uplifting the poorest workers while chastising the wealthiest. It is this transformative vision that makes the Progressive movement stand out from most other political movements in our country's history. In addition to transforming Americans, McGerr says Progressives wanted to end class conflict, use government to control big businesses, and use segregation to help implement their objectives successfully.

McGerr is effective in adding the human dimension to his history of Progressivism. The Garlands, young Rahel Golub and her immigrant family, the Bradley-Martins and others are all used to give an image of who some of the wage laborers, upper class and progressive reformers were. The reformers include many of the standard names like Hull-House founder Jane Addams, salon smashing Carrie Nation, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, and a host of other reformers in all different strata of society. Many organizations that formed to support the various agendas of the Progressive movement are also mentioned, including the Anti-Saloon League, the Country Life Commission, and others that represented various Progressive causes.

I felt the author was most focused on and interested in the Progressive belief in transforming other people to conform to this middle class vision of society and he handles the issue very ably. Whether it be their dislike of rugged individualism or their crusades against personal vices like divorce and alcohol or their belief in the promises of education, the Progressives truly believed people could be changed and molded into their way of thinking. While a bold and radical idea, it is also naive and arrogant. As time revealed, people grew tired and resistant to the Progressive idea of changing people's attitudes and way of living. Times had changed with technological innovations like the automobile and new recreational and leisure activities that allowed for a new sense of personal freedom. The effects of World War I and the new challenges in a post-war society also added to the decline of Progressive ideals.

Surprisingly, I didn't think the author gave a lot of attention to more of the legislative accomplishments of the Progressive Era, especially during the Wilson Administration, but overall as well. He mentioned many topics that led to enacted legislation, but generally with little detail. McGerr is quite good in showing the larger picture and how people reacted to the movement and how external factors effected its progression and or decline. The social aspects of the Progressive movement are his clear strong points. From a political standpoint I think the author was more sympathetic to the more radical reformers who wanted greater, more broad-sweeping reform. He shows the Progressives for who they were and what they hoped to achieve, with their strengths and their flaws. I think he is right in assessing the times we live in as a bit disappointing politically. But as he stated, that is one of the consequences of the Progressive Era with its high hopes and expectations, expectations that realistically could never be accomplished.

The Progressives can be credited for bringing many political, economic and social issues to the forefront of public debate as well as leaving a legacy of some very notable legislative accomplishments that endure to this day. Ultimately, they could not overcome the innate belief held by so many concerning the importance of the individual and that person's belief in being allowed to achieve whatever type of life and way of living they felt entitled to pursue without other individuals, groups or government telling them how to live. As McGerr stated in his conclusion, the Progressives overreached; they tried to accomplish too much. The backlash it produced has led other leaders as well as a large section of the population to approach any mention of reform, at least in relation to individuals, with a justifiable amount of caution.… (meer)