Documents from Reading the American Past

Chapter 21

Introduction to the Documents

Progressives sought to reunite Americans, to overcome the many bitter divisions that separated rich and poor, employers and employees, native citizens and immigrants, adherents of one faith and those of all others. The settlement house movement reflected the desire to bridge divisions by bringing the ideas and energies of middle-class Americans to poor immigrant neighborhoods. Many Americans did not share progressives' aspiration to find some middle ground between conflicting groups. Working people, labor union members, suffragists, and black Americans feared that the middle ground would be nothing more than the continuation of a status quo they found unacceptable. The following documents illustrate the attitudes and experiences that drew some people toward progressive reforms and caused others to seek change by insisting on the recognition of fundamental differences among Americans.