Historiography of Progressivism

Question 1

What was Frederick Jackson Turner the first proponent of?

Answer 1

American exceptionalism

Question 2

What is American exceptionalism?

Answer 2

the idea that the United States was not only different from other nations but also unique in its social evolution

Question 3

What did Frederick Jackson Turner attack in The Significance of the Frontier in American History?

Answer 3

Adams’ theory that the origins of American culture could be traced back to the Germanic forest

Question 4

What was Frederick Jackson Turner’s “The Frontier Thesis”?

Answer 4

American democracy, the nature of American institutions of government, and the uniqueness of the American character could be traced to America’s frontier experience

Question 5

What were the tree classes on the western frontier as proposed by Frederick Jackson Turner?

Answer 5

pioneers who lived off the land, settlers that purchased the land, and capitalists and industrialists

Question 6

What was the relationship between the American frontier and Europe as proposed by Frederick Jackson Turner?

Answer 6

advance of the frontier decreased American dependence on England

Question 7

What did Charles Beard argue?

Answer 7

argued that the forces of the revolution were in effect subverted by the forces of the established ruling class of the pre-war period. He argued that the history of America, and that the Constitution itself, was the result of Marxian-style class struggle. He further asserted that the Constitution was an economic document designed by those with money and property to protect those with money and property.

Question 8

How did Charles Beard see the American Revolution?

Answer 8

American Revolution as a social revolution, the beginnings of an egalitarian democratic order that would liberate, and empower, the interests of the vast majority of Americans who were farmers, artisans, and laborers

Question 9

What did Charles Beard think about the new system?

Answer 9

The new system weakened the state governments and erected a powerful central government designed to limit the people’s rule

Question 10

How did Carl Becker see the American Revolution?

Answer 10

American Revolution was fundamentally a conflict over “who should rule at home.”

Question 11

How did Carl Becker see Progressivism?

Answer 11

society would continually evolve towards a future of democracy, equality and prosperity

Question 12

After the Great Depression how did Carl Becker’s view change?

Answer 12

view changed to one of relativistic

Question 13

How did Carl Becker believe historians had to get their point across?

Answer 13

really prove their views and facts didn’t speak for themselves

Question 14

How did Richard Hofstadter view Progressivism?

Answer 14

saw Progressivism as a heterogeneous but purposeful movement with a cohesive center made largely of the iconoclastic Republicans known as Mugwumps

Question 15

What did Richard Hofstadter think of the Progressive reforms?

Answer 15

reforms advocated by these core Progressives were, in Hofstadter’s view, an essentially conservative reaction to the economic upheaval of the period, an attempt to restore traditional American values such as self-sufficiency and personal virtue

Question 16

How did Robert H. Wiebe view Progressivism?

Answer 16

Progressivism represented a widespread effort by the rising middle class to bring order to what they perceived as social chaos wrought by the rapid and radical shift from a predominantly agricultural society to one that was largely industrial and urban

Question 17

How did Daniel Wrobel view Progressivism?

Answer 17

“frontier anxiety” engendered the concerns of many Progressives, who feared that the closing of the frontier in 1890 would fatally foreclose America’s ability to acculturate new immigrants and preserve Jeffersonian liberty

Question 18

What did Steven Diner think of Progressivism?

Answer 18

rejected the idea that there was any such thing as a Progressive movement, positing instead that Progressivism was a catch-all term whose definition changed depending upon which so-called Progressives were under consideration.

Question 19

What did Steven Diner say progressive positions were based on?

Answer 19

self-interests

Question 20

How did Richard McCormick view progressivism?

Answer 20

was characterized, first of all, by a distinctive set of attributes toward
industrialism

Question 21

What did Richard McCormick think of the progressive reforms?

Answer 21

distinguished, secondly, by a basic optimism about

people’s ability to improve their environment through continuous human action

Question 22

According to Richard McCormick what did progressives bear?

Answer 22

Progressives visibly bore the imprint of the evangelical ethos