AMSCO Historian Comparison SAQ 7.4

“According to the liberal view of the Progressive Era, the major political innovations of reform involved the equalization of political power through the primary, the direct election of public officials, and the initiative, referendum, and recall. . . . But they provided at best only an occasional and often incidental process of decision-making. Far more important in continuous, sustained, day-to-day processes of government were those innovations which centralized decision-making in the hands of fewer and fewer people.” Samuel L. Hays, The Politics of Reform in Municipal Government in the Progressive Era, 1964

“Progressivism owed much of its success to a distinctive method of reform. . . . They typically began by organizing voluntary associations, investigating a problem, gathering relevant facts, and analyzing them. From such analysis a proposed solution would emerge, be popularized through campaigns of education and moral suasion, and . . . to be taken over by some level of government as a public function. . . . These tactics were pioneered in many cases by women. . . . It fell to women to invent their own means to improve the world.” Richard L. McCormick, Public Life in Industrial America, 1877–1917, 1997

Briefly describe ONE major difference between Hays’ and McCormick’s historical interpretation of the Progressive Era.

Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Hays’ interpretation of the Progressive Era.

Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support McCormick’s interpretation of the Progressive Era.