In the early years of the 20th century, the right to vote and the value of an individual's vote were matters that occupied the interest of both privileged and underprivileged people alike. "In theory," remarks John Milton Cooper in Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920, "the right to vote belonged to slightly less than half the adult population; in practice, it belonged to fewer than that." According to Cooper, African-American participation in the political system of the United States, though Constitutionally-protected by the 15th Amendment of 1870, was marred by corrupt practices of segregation, discrimination, disenfranchisement, racist political demagoguery, and racial violence. Similarly, newly-arrived immigrants were treated as pawns in the political process, as city machines attempted to manipulate their decisions at the ballot box. At the turn of the century, women were barely permitted suffrage (in four western states).
For such reasons, Progressive insurgents such as Robert La Follete of Wisconsin were passionate about the urgent need for reform. La Follete championed elements of direct democracy such as recall, referendum, direct primary, and initiative.
During the "Gilded Age" of the late 19th century, corrupt business practices and political graft compromised standards of justice in America. Concerned citizens were interested in restoring order in the corporate world and holding powerful individuals accountable for their behavior. For this reason, Progressive leaders "demanded stern antitrust laws, discriminated in favor of state enterprise in such areas as insurance, and insisted upon rigid rules to restrain the political activities of the large corporations," according to Robert H. Wiebe, author of "The Search for order, 1877-1920."
In a period of economic instability, the Progressive movement gained traction as reformers sought to defend the rights of the working class. Child labor laws, for example, were championed by Progressives in hopes of discouraging businesses from drawing children into the workforce. Many child laborers in this era were underpaid, working in unsafe conditions and malnourished. Within industrial environments, trade unions agitated for measures of reform, designed to accommodate the needs of workers while discovering employees' hidden potential by way of worker education programs.
Youth-based social and educational reforms were key concerns that were addressed by social reformer Jane Addams, theologian Walter Rauschenbush and philosopher John Dewey. Addams opened Hull House, a settlement house that offered the nation's first kindergarten classes for impoverished children. Rauschenbush challenged Christians to embrace an attitude of charity toward less financially fortunate members of society. Dewey also wished to provide opportunities for children from all sectors of society, advocating a system of education that recognized the value of experiential learning alongside of classroom instruction. The progressive ideas of these three individuals substantiated equality of education and the use of inductive reasoning methods that were grounded in experience.