Essay about Richard Hofstadters The Age of Reform

Richard Hofstadters The Age of Reform In 1955, Richard Hofstadter wrote his Pulitzer Prize winning book The Age of Reform, about the Gilded Age. Hofstadter’s arguments about the Populist and Progressive movements and their origins started debate and renewed scholarship on the Populist and Progressive movements. Many historians did not agree with Hofstadter’s arguments and published their own papers stating their conclusions based on their own research. This scenario occurs all the time in the history field. One historian writes a book or paper and other historians accept or reject his arguments by doing their own research and making their own conclusions. Many historians wrote about the Progressive era after Hofstadter did.†¦show more content†¦He argues that for the early part of the history of the United States the culture of the nation centered on the farmer and the agrarian myth. The agrarian myth is that the independent family farmer was what drove the nation. Hofstadter states that fra mers enjoyed a certain privileged status in society. He argues that by the late 1870s this image or status was in decline and that farmers began to resent this loss of status. He asserts that the Populist movement was born out of this resentment. He explains that this resentment towards city-dwellers—those whose opinion of farming was declining—was why many Populists described the city as crime infested and disliked immigrants. He viewed populists as being hysterical, raving, and very nativist. He says that the ideas expressed by the Populists made their way to the cities where professionals latched on to them. These professionals he argued felt the pinch from immigrants and crime. These professionals became the members of the Progressive movement. He viewed progressives as more practical, less hysterical, and more patronizing. To Hofstadter the Populist and Progressive movements were borne out of a status revolution in the United States. Hofstadter presents an interesting argument to explain Populism and Progressivism. At the root of his argument is that people are more likely to feel resentment when their status is at stake rather then when their income or jobs are. This is an interestingShow MoreRelatedEssay on A Progressive Movement1538 Words   |  7 Pagesfamed historian and teacher Richard Hofstadter wrote The Age of Reform in 1955 about the late 19th century and early 20th century movement of Progressivism. In turn, other historians that include Paula Baker, Richard McCormick, and Peter Filene have written their opinion on what the movement we call Progressivism really was, and what its real significance is, or even if it really existed as a movement in its own right. Richard Hofstadter’s book The Age of Reform was written in 1955 and influencedRead MoreEssay about The Progressive Era: Conflicting Viewpoints1651 Words   |  7 Pagesimportance in history. In The Age of Reform, Richard Hofstadter reviews both the Populist and Progressive movements from a psychological standpoint. He maintains that both were groups, Populist farmers and Progressive long- established wealthy professionals, known as mugwumps, both of which formerly had had much power and influence in the United States and were being overshadowed by the growing importance of cities and the nouveau riche, respectively. Hofstadter’s main arguments are taken fromRead More Progressivism Essay1891 Words   |  8 Pagesdistinctly different. The four works, Richard Hofstadters The Age of Reform, Peter Filenes An Obituary for the Progressive Movement, Richard McCormicks The Discovery that Business Corrupts Politics, Paula Bakers The Domestication of Politics all discuss the Progressive â€Å"time period† in varying degrees of depth. The four historians all wrote after the 1950’s when the age in question was clearly over. 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However, the first historian to successfully define and explain the Progressive Movement was historian Richard Hofstadter. With his 1954 book Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Age of Reform, Hofstadter links the major reform movements before and after the turn of the twentieth century. Instead of citing specific reforms or leaders, Hofstadter deals with the ideas connecting Populism, Progressivism and the New Deal, while examining the differences and similaritiesRead MoreEssay about Interpreting American Progressivism2954 Words   |  12 Pagesthey often participate in an ongoing dialogue concerning their research. One of the first historians to make a major mark regarding the Progressive Era was Richard Hofstadter in his book The Age of Reform, published in 1955. Other prominent works include Peter G. Filene’s â€Å"Obituary for the Progressive Movement† , published in 1970, Richard L. McCormick’s â€Å"The Discovery that Business Corrupts Politics† , published in 1981, and Paula Baker’s â€Å"The Domestication of Politics† , published in 1984. WhileRead MoreThe American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It Essay7033 Words   |  29 PagesIn Richard Hofstadters The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, he identifies twelve of the most influential men and the political traditions they created, including the Founding Fathers who started it all. Additionally, Hofstadter informs the reader of other significant government officials including Andrew Jackson and his democracy, the progressive, trustbuster Theodore Roosevelt, and ending with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his programs of the New Deal. Richard Hofstadters ideasRead More`` Shifting The Center : Race, Class, And Feminist Theorizing About Motherhood Essay2296 Words   |  10 PagesPatricia Hill Collins discusses the importance of looking at issues from the context of people of different racial, social, economic, and political backgrounds . She writes that â€Å"varying placement in systems of privilege, whether race, class, sexuality, or age, generate divergent experiences,† which allows to engage in â€Å"theorizing that embraces differences as an essential part of commonality.† Only when we are able to look at an issue or policy from different perspectives and contexts can we understand its