The Populist and Progressive Reformers

THE POPULIST AND PROGRESSIVE REFORMERS
After the declaration of independence on the 4th of July 1776, the events that occurred in
the 19th century were perhaps the events that shaped American society. Slavery continued
to dominate as primarily Africans, and African Americans continued to be mistreated and
subjected to inhumane conditions by their masters, completely disregarding the premise on
which the American people sought their independence, “all men are created equal.” Slaves
were denied their basic rights including the right to vote and the right to education. Being a
capitalist society, the economics of inequality continued to thrive. Inequality was further
exacerbated by slavery as slaveholders were perceived to be aristocrats with the ability to
control the nation’s politics1. Slavery is largely attributed to being the major cause of the
American civil war in 1861 which claimed more than one million lives2. Agrarian revolution
mechanized agriculture and made to be more efficient; industries increased their production
capacity tremendously due to the shift to machine-based production. These events amongst
many others led to the rise of populist and progressive reformers who shaped American
politics, economy, and society, through their ethics, vision ideals, hard work, and sacrifice.
Soon after the American revolution of 1776, northern states passed legislation abolishing
slavery. Pennsylvania chose a gradual approach to end slavery within twenty years.
1 Edward McPherson, The Political History of United States of America During the Period of
Reconstruction... (Washington, D.C.: Philp and Solomons, 1871, 80-82. [ ]
2 Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans
from the Civil War to World War II (New York: Random House, 2008). [ ]
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Massachusetts and Vermont followed suit and Congress regulated the growth of slavery to
the new states admitted into the union. Thomas Jefferson played a key role in the abolition
of slavery in the United States of America. Despite being a lifelong slaveholder, Jefferson
included provisions for antislavery in the original draft of declaration for independence. In
1807 as the President, Jefferson signed the act prohibiting the importation of slaves. He
later supported the Missouri compromise which he believed would help end slavery.
Benjamin Franklin committed to becoming a member of the Pennsylvania Society for the
Abolition of Slavery. William Lloyd Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society
which he used as a platform to combat slavery. Black activists Frederick Douglass, Charles
Henry Langston, and John Mercer Langston, helped in the formation of Ohio Anti-Slavery
Society. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued an emancipation proclamation changing the legal
status of slaves to free3. Samuel Slater was regarded as the father of the industrial
revolution for his contribution to the mechanization of industries. All reformers who came
up against slavery came to understand the slavery violates human dignity and demeans the
other person’s character. They appreciated that slavery denied other Americans of their
rights and they became aware that they had to set precedence and take their duty of being
citizens with considerations for all men irrespective of their color. The morality of using
female slaves as concubines was put to question and most people agreed that it violated the
moral principles that governed society. Indeed it goes without any doubt that this populists
and reformist were instrumental in their capacities to help alleviate slavery, from making
3 Steven Hahn et al., Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867. Series 3,
Volume 1: Land and Labour, 1865 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012). [ ]