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Who were the Progressives? What did they believe?

The Progressives were reformers in the late 19th and early 20th century who believed that in order to address modern problems, America needed to abandon the old ideas of the Founding in favor of a new expansive conception of the role of government. Progressives paved the way for modern liberalism and politics, and their core ideas are still the mainstay of todays liberalism.

Some Progressives were prominent journalists such as Herbert Croly (co-founder of The New Republic), some were distinguished professors such as John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson (president of Princeton before he was President of the U.S.), and many were political leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt and Robert La Follette. Progressives could be found in both political parties: Wilson was a Democrat, Roosevelt was a Republican.

The Progressives were united in their contempt for what they called the individualism of the Founding. Instead of a government that protects natural rights through limited, decentralized powers, they envisioned an expansive government, a living and evolving Constitution, and the rule of experts in nationally centralized administrative agencies.

For more on the subject, see the First Principles essay by Thomas G. West and William A. Schambra The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American Politics.

The Progressives derived their political ideas from European thinkers. The seeds of Progressivism were first sown by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (born in Geneva, lived in France) who wrote that citizens ought to be forced to be free and that the general will should govern the individual wills of citizens, placing individuals in the service of the collective will of society.

These ideas made their way to Germany in the early 19th century, and had an important influence on the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. Hegel incorporated them into what he called a philosophy of History, in which ideas, society, and humanity itself are evolving toward a higher form of freedom. This progress is achieved, Hegel argued, by abandoning the antiquated ideas and traditions of the past, and embracing a new form of freedom, where individuals give the government unlimited authority over their lives.

Many of the American Progressives studied in Germany, and were taught by students of Hegel. They brought the German model of education and German political ideas back to America with them and established Ph.D. programs in several areas of study, producing a new generation of professors and students who sought to replace the principles of the Founding with the new Progressive teaching on politics. These ideas, mixed with Darwinism and a deep faith in science, form the roots of modern American Liberalism.

For more on the origins of Progressivism, see R. J. Pestrittos First Principles essay The Birth of the Administrative State: Where It Came From and What It Means for Limited Government.

Whereas the Founders believed the government had a well-defined and limited role to play in the lives of citizensessentially leaving people alone to lead their livesthe Progressives favored a much more active role for the government in overseeing civil society, regulating the economy, and redistributing wealth.

Link:
Progressivism and Liberalism - The Heritage Foundation