Progressives, The New Deal and The Great Society

This research paper compares and contrasts the approaches taken by reformers to civil rights and social welfare or income maintenance programs during the eras of the Progressives, the New Deal and the Great Society. The idea of using the power of government to benefit broader segments of society originated in the Progressive era; however, Progressivism was largely a middle class movement which did little to advance the interests of nonwhite groups or the poor. It did espouse the political equality of women. New Deal reformers established for the first time a social safety net of minimum subsistence standards. They viewed their role more as one of extending temporary relief than of permanently addressing the needs of the poor. The civil rights record of the New Deal was poor; but blacks and other minorities benefitted from the greater opportunities its social welfare programs opened for disadvantaged groups. Great Society reformers made much more significant advances in the field of civil rights for minorities. Less planned progress was made in the field of women's rights. The attempt of reformers in the late 1960s to address the fundamental causes of poverty through various income maintenance and other social welfare programs became bogged down in the conflicting priorities of the Vietnam War and confusion as to the goals and implementation of the war on poverty.

The Progressive Movement took place largel

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law" (342). The administration of Lyndon Johnson secured the passage through Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the lesser Civil Rights Acts of 1966 and 1968. The 1964 bill made discrimination in employment or public accommodations on the basis of race or other proscribed criteria (creed, sex, national origin, etc.) a federal crime and gave the federal government enhanced enforcement powers. Title VI barred discrimination on such grounds by any entity receiving federal funds. The 1965 bill put teeth into constitutional bars on racial discrimination in voting and effectively ended literacy test disqualifications. The 1968 law guaranteed open housing to all Americans. LBJ appointed the first black, Thurgood Marshall, to the Supreme Court. Kearns says that "Johnson took the most advanced positions on racial issues of any President in American history" (232). According to Dallek, "civil rights and voting rights corrected long-standing wrongs and opened the way to the rising of a large and more affluent black middle class. Affirmative action, however, . . . proved to be a disappointing method for solving racial tensions" (624). Johnson himself was a bit of a male chauvinist, often requir
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Approximate Word count = 2114
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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