Describe three important reforms that occurred during the Progressive Essay - 2

Describe three important reforms that occurred during the Progressive Era in American history. Describe what each one of them was, and why each one was an important reform - Essay Example Government reform encompasses one of the major changes that occurred in the reform era. Robert LaFollette who was a republican governor in Wisconsin (Mintz 2014) championed reforms in this sector. It was termed as the â€Å"Wisconsin idea† and it included changes such as a development of a railroad commission to control taxes, direct primaries to choose party nominees for public offices, as well as initiative and recall opportunities for the public (Fishback 289). These reforms were important since they increased the efficiency of the government (Fishback 289). The direct primaries gave the public an opportunity to participate in the political process and also limited the influence of city bosses in selecting there favourable personnel. The initiative device enabled the public participate in passing proposed laws through voting and recall device gave the public the power to remove elected officials from their position. These reforms put government officials on their toes and e nsured they did their work with efficiency and transparency. Civil rights reforms in the progressive era are very critical and their benefits curently felt. These reforms occurred following the publication of W.E.B. Du Bois. His publication highlighted the plight of African Americans and the disparaging racism effects. Du Bois condemned the belief that African Americans could not work as manual laborers and nothing more. This publication led to the establishment of the first national civil rights movement known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Mintz, 2014). This organization boasted of 6,000 members by 1914 whereby it extended to establishing offices in fifty cities. These reforms in civil rights were very important since they ensured that the rights of the colored minority were protected. Initially, the minority endured hard and forced labor, coupled with low wages as well as denial of certain necessities.