Progressive Era

During the Progressive Era, the reformers were stricter and did not provide direct help, while the reformers in the New Deal were a little more direct in helping Americans. The progressive era policies were more concerned with correcting the society. All three presidents during this time period, including Theodore Roosevelt, Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, implemented some progressive reforms. It was the government’s policy to correct social and economic problems as well as to provide assistance for the people. Conversely, during the New Deal, the federal government passed most policies and programs.
The New Deal was during the government really took much more of a role in steering the economy and in protecting the working class. In the New Deal, Congress passed the Wagner Act, which ensured that workers would have the right to join unions and that the unions would have the right to bargain collectively. This was an important step in reducing the power of big companies and enhancing the power of workers. Reducing the power of big companies was a major goal of progressive reforms. Similarly, during the New Deal, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This law set minimum wages for workers and also established maximums on how long they could be required to work. Once again, the government was trying to protect workers from big companies. In this way, the New Deal can be seen as a culmination of the Progressive Era because the New Deal programs did various things to reduce the power of big business and to help workers.
The New Deal and the Progressive Era had some similarities. The start of government involvement in the economy was seen in the Progressive Era and the New Deal took that to greater heights. The New Deal really strengthened the idea that the government was responsible for making the economy run well and fairly. However, the New Deal was much more about economic stability and much less about economic justice, when compared to the Progressive