Since the Progressive Era, we have seen a huge amount social change run through America. The 20th century brought about more social change in America than any other century before or since. Women gained the right to vote in the 20th century; the poor people of the Great Depression became more healthy, active, and secure with the New Deal legislation. The musicians of the 20th century changed music in a way that it could inspire social change, as well as this feel good jive. Songs in the 20th century inspired, hoped, loved, and showed the pain of the common man. You can say Cat's In the Cradle is a Progressive song because it shows how this father is working way to much to raise his child, and the slow progression of that child into a mirror image of the father. Perhaps Harry Chapin was trying to say that the working class has to have more time to spend with their family; that perhaps an eight hour work day would be better so the workers could spend more time with the one's they love. The people from the bottom of society came forward to protest segregation in the most attended rally in the history of the United States. MLK standing under Lincoln's shadow, he pronounced that he had a dream, that one day his children's children could hold hands with a white man, not as enemies, but as friends. In the Watergate scandal, the people realized what power they had when the Nixon resigned. They realized that the most powerful in their society could not dodge the grasp of the law. The energy crisis that happened in the Carter Administration showed people that the environment needed fixing; that something the people of America were doing was not the best example of self-efficiency. As the century continued, homosexuals and American Indians protested for equal rights, they had determination and the will to come out on top. Now we can assuredly say nobody wants to return to the 90's. That was a time of not economic depression, but just mental depression. But the music, that's what really had the emotion of the people. I'm not that into 90's music, (thank god) but what I do hear is really emotional. It may be just like this, for all the emotion the common man was supposed to show in the 90's was sucked up by the music of the 90's. Meaning, the people of the 90's expressed themselves through their music. At the turn of the century, two men had the opportunity to become President, Al Gore and George W. Bush. We al know what happened that election year, and we all want to forget the eight years that followed, but it did show the American people why the Electoral College was so important, and let them make sure that was being upheld.
All of these things are Constitutional, all of these things things inspired social change, all of these things helped us form a more perfect union. The events of the 20th century shaped the way the nation formed. What if Martin Luther King had been shot before he became well known? Our nation would be a very different place. The framers of the Constitution said that democracy was an unfinished experience, that justice was equal to fairness, that a single individual could be great. The 20th century accentuates the Constitution better than any other time in American history. The Vietnam War was adamantly opposed in the 60's and 70's. People wanted change, they no longer wanted to be in a war that would never be won. Never before had the 1st Amendment been used so openly, never before had the government been in such ignorance, with the possible exception of the Industrial Revolution. The U.S Supreme Court has heard 1,674 cases since 1789. 1,218 of those cases, according to Wikipedia, took place in the 20th century. In the 18th, 19th, and 21st centuries combined have been 456. That means that about 72% of all the cases ever heard by the Supreme Court came in the 1900's because of all the social change that went on. In 1970-1979, the Supreme Court heard 240 cases, 20 times more than what was heard in 1860-1869. Now I know not all of the court cases in the 1900's were considered to be socially changing, but I think that most of them were. Which brings me to another point. The Constitution is a Progressive Document. It changes perspectives through the years, according to the belief of the people. But sometimes, Amendments can be manipulated to favor the Capitalists, and that is where Progressives come in handy.
Progressivism is paramount to a successful nation. Our nation is based on the fact that all people have the chance to do something powerful. All people have the right to do something powerful. We as a nation have not upheld that particular promise, but with Progressivism, it could be accomplished. To believe that things will get better, that we can overcome whatever is in our way, that is the American Dream, that is what our ancestors dreamed of when crafting tis nation; this is what a Progressive does. They inspire hope when hope is not found, they put faith in the working class when no one else would. The Progressive thinkers are the one's that understand the potential and true goal of this nation. It was because of Eugene Debs, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, and Jacob Riis that the American 20th century was so influential, not only to the future of America, but the future of the world. And through the entire 20th century, the fight went on, the cause endured, and the dream never died.
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