The Progressive movement was more a triumph for liberalism than for conservatism, as we can see in the change in democracy, economy and the role of the government. Defining conservatism, it can be described as the maintenance of traditional institution, and social ideology. It tends to preserve and emphasize stability and continuity. However during the progressivism, the progressives had made a lot of improvements and reforms in education, social welfare, economy, which can be regarded as liberalism. From 1901 to 1917, government started to regulate the economy by intervening the free market maintained during the Glided Age. As Teddy Roosevelt became the president, he strengthened the government’s ability to regulate big business by authorizing and establishing the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission to set railroad rates. He also had the Department to launch 44 anti-trust suits, prosecuting railroad, …show more content…
To increase democracy, the progressive reformers tried to enhance the control of the people over the government. They successfully lobbied for direct primaries; the elimination of boss rule, the direct election of Senators and women suffrage. Women, however, played a more and more important rule in the social reforming. Women’s organizations stood at the forefront of the social reforms and policy innovations. They were especially active in efforts to end child labor and to protest companies that had unsafe working conditions or produced unsafe products. For example, Jane Addams established Hull House, which provided childcare and offered classes that taught cooking, hygiene, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. She also advocated an eight-hour workday, a ban on child labor and legal protections for immigrants. She called for compulsory education, woman suffrage, women unions and improved