W. E. B. Dubois And The Progressive Movement

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From 1896 to 1924, America went through a period known as progressivism in which people of all walks of life banded together to oppose conservatism and reform society. Progressives generally believed that government is necessary for change, however; it had to more significantly embody the ideals of democracy. Some of the specific changes that progressives wanted were regulating railroads, a direct election of senators, graduated income tax, limited immigration and eight-hour workdays. By supporting these changes, the progressives hoped to promote and expand democracy and thus give the people more power. One of the goals of the progressives was to address the wealth gap and reduce income inequality by transferring power to the people through …show more content…

Dubois. Dubois was an incredibly intelligent African American and was also one of the founders of the NAACP. Dubois wanted full rights for African Americans and wouldn’t be satisfied with partial rights. With his position in the NAACP and editor of its journal, “The Crisis”, Dubois had a lot of influence. He definitely put his influence to good use in arguing against the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision, which stated that segregation was legal as long as both races had equal opportunities. Another issue that the NAACP and Dubois had was with lynching. Through “The Crisis”, Dubois was able to expose many of the horrors of lynching and have it out there for the general public. Through his many anti-lynching pieces, Dubois was able to garner a significant amount of support against lynching and this eventually led to an anti-lynching law. This was a huge win for all African Americans. In addition, Dubois also helped African Americans culturally through his pieces promoting black creativity. Black people have a rich and vibrant culture and that showed through clearly with the Harlem Renaissance. Since land-lords wouldn’t rent out in most other areas, a lot of African-Americans were concentrated in Harlem. Being in close contact with other black people and with the encouragement of “The Crisis”, a lot of creative work was being put out by black artists. A significant contribution would be jazz music. In regards to the Hofstader thesis, Dubois was not actually white, but he was middle class. His role in the progressive era was significant and he did most of what he set out to do with the help of “The Crisis” journal. He brought about major reforms and culture to African Americans and also shed light on many issues that African Americans