What were the main goals of the Progressive Movement?

The main goals of the Progressive Movement were to address social issues and reduce corruption in American society. Emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this movement sought to tackle various problems stemming from rapid industrialization, urbanization, and political corruption.

Progressives aimed to promote social justice through reforms that included women's suffrage, labor rights, education access, and public health initiatives. They advocated for regulations to improve working conditions and protect consumers, as well as measures to eliminate political corruption through the introduction of direct primaries, initiatives, and referendums. The overarching goal was to create a more equitable society where government could be a force for good, intervening in the interests of the public rather than allowing powerful interests to dominate.

The other options present goals that do not align with the core objectives of the Progressive Movement. Isolationism and economic self-sufficiency would imply a retreat from global engagement, which was not a focus of Progressives. Supporting colonial expansion and imperialism contrasts sharply with the Movement's emphasis on addressing domestic reform. While labor unions were an important aspect of the period, the establishment of unions and strike actions was a subset of the broader goal to reform labor practices rather than a primary goal of the Progressive Movement as