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What Was The Impact Of The Progressive Movement

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The Progressive Movement was a period in time that brought great changes to the United States and shifted society’s social and economic mindset. Throughout this era, a shift in the nation’s federalism structure was altered to inhibit the powers of the states and render a strong central government as the main powerhouse of the United States. Progressives used their ideas to strengthen the central government by responding to issues during that time. While some responses were miniscule, such as acts and campaigns, others were on a much larger scale, such as Amendments to the Constitution, and established new standards and practices for society. The 16th through 19th Amendments addressed the call for reform during the early 1900s by cementing the …show more content…

During the Progressive Era, the southern states embodied a Conservative Christian mindset that led to the judgment that alcohol was sinful and in order to promote the general welfare of society through moral improvement, it must be banned. This was mainly pushed by women, who were members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, that claimed alcohol was responsible for an exponential rise of domestic violence and the Anti-Saloon League who claimed alcohol was the direct cause of saloon inspired political corruption. The scientific principle that alcohol was causing a spike in domestic violence cases, was ultimately enough for the federal government to abide by the Progressive Movement’s idea that alcohol should be banned to exemplify moral improvement within the nation. With the adoption of the 18th Amendment, prohibiting alcohol in the United States, businesses that were related with the contents of alcohol were being regulated or for some, completely ruined. Unless, however, the business continued its activities in an illegal manner, which was very common because the consensus of banning alcohol was not agreed upon by all and many speakeasies were formed. Even after the Amendment was ratified and the Volstead Act, which induced even more restrictions on alcohol, was passed, the alcohol industry was not coming to a halt. This is ultimately why the 18th Amendment was the only amendment that has ever been repealed when the 21st Amendment took effect years later. However, this does not take away from the fact that during the Progressive Era, the 18th Amendment was formulated to address the call of reform during a time where alcohol had become a major factor in domestic violence cases against women and it was able to reform society through placing a nationwide ban on alcohol, as well as exhibiting values of moral

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