The Progressive Era in Georgia

The Progressive Era was a period of reform and that reform came in many forms of legislation that when passed would satisfy the goals of the government. Historians consider the time frame of the progressive era to fall between 1890 and 1920. There were three main goals nationally as well as in Georgia. This reform movement was sparked by the acknowledgement of many problems that existed throughout the United States. The goals usually started out as local or state issues and later were consumed by national response. In discussing the Progressive Era in Georgia, it is important to study each Governor during the era of the movement and the legislations and contributions that their administrations provided in accomplishing their goals. It is also important to discuss race relations in Georgia and how it contradicted reform. Analyzing these aspects of the Progressive Era will give readers an increased knowledge of the need for certain legislations and the steps taken to ensure that each benefited our nation and state. In return, readers will obtain an appreciation for the freedoms and opportunities that have experience during their lifetime.

            Nationally, there were three main goals that the United States focused on: social justice, government regulation of big businesses, and the democratization of government. Social justice focused on the need for equality and protection for citizens. Prohibition is one example of this as there was a need to protect victims from those with alcohol problems. The regulation of big businesses focused on the need for fair distribution of taxes and the need for stopping businesses from taking advantage of their power. This goal was not a major goal in Georgia because Georgia was dominated by an agricultural economy. However, there were small amounts of industry that would need attention from the state. The democratization of government focused on allowing more people to be involved with government. One example can be seen as woman’s suffrage became a major issue during the mid 1900’s. In Georgia, the goals focused on smaller scaled needs based on the needs of the state. There were also three main goals in Georgia: education reform, railroad regulation, and prohibition. The state of Georgia recognized the need for an educational reform by the means of providing more schools, increasing funding, and providing longer school days. These needs would provide for a better education for Georgia’s students. The need for railroad regulation stemmed from the corrupt use of power by Georgia’s railroad commission. The inflation of prices and taxes forced on farmers, for example, disabled the ability for Georgia’s economy to grow. Farmer’s production cost was already suffering from overproduction of crops and the lack of diversification and with the unfair conditions for importing and exporting goods they were falling in debt even more. Prohibition seemed to be one of Georgia’s biggest goals. The need for the outlawing of alcohol stemmed from a moral issue concerning the treatment of others while being around those who were intoxicated. This issue will be discussed in depth at a later time. In order to fully understand how Georgia reacted to these goals, a discussion of each Governor’s contributions must be studied.