The Progressive Era

by Francis J Sicius

Published 26 May 2015

This fascinating guide documents the transformation of government from passive observer to active participant and ally of the American people during the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

The progressive impulse that energized the United States between 1890 and 1920 forever altered the nature of American government and its relation to its citizens. This book was written to reveal the challenges Americans faced during the Progressive Era and to show how their responses helped transform the nation. Combining a narrative on the era with biographies of key participants, significant primary sources, and an annotated bibliography, the topically organized volume offers a lively contextual guide to one of the great turning points in American history.

In addition to covering the major political events of the era, the guide provides profiles of prominent Progressive figures such as Eugene V. Debs, Mother Jones, Margaret Sanger, Jacob Riis, and W.E.B. DuBois. Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and the National Progressive Agenda are covered, as are the Muckrakers, the African American struggle for equal rights, the women's suffrage movement, and efforts to better the conditions of factory workers. The guide also details the rise of the American Empire as the United States took its place on the world stage. The most recent historiography is interwoven throughout.


  • Offers an accessible overview of the Progressive Era that uniquely brings together a narrative, biographies, primary source materials, and analysis
  • Shares a new perspective on an era that is part of the core curriculum of American history
  • Provides context essential to appreciating the interests, ideas, and individuals responsible for shaping-or restricting-progressive thought and action
  • Acts as a research guide for high school and undergraduate students
  • Includes an annotated bibliography of print and online primary and secondary sources to encourage further study