The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1890-1920 2nd Edition

by John Whiteclay II Chambers (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0813527994

ISBN-10: 0813527996

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The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1890-1920 3rd edition by Chambers, Professor John Whiteclay II (2000) Paperback
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Between 1890 and 1920, the forces accompanying industrialization sent the familiar nineteenth-century world plummeting toward extinction. The traditional countryside with its villages and family farms was eclipsed by giant corporations and sprawling cities. America appeared headed into an unknown future.

In lively, accessible prose, John Chambers incorporates the latest scholarship about the social, cultural, political, and economic changes which produced modern America. He illuminates the experiences of blacks, Asians, Latinos, as well as other working men and women in the cities and countryside as they struggled to improve their lives in a transformed economy. He explores the dimensions of the new consumer society and the new information and entertainment industries: newspapers, magazines, the movies. Striding these pages are many of the prominent individuals who shaped the attitudes and institutions of modern America: J. P. Morgan and corporate reorganization; Jane Addams and the origin of modern social work; Mary Pickford and the new star-oriented motion picture industry; and the radical labor challenge of “Big Bill” Haywood and the “Wobblies.”

While recognizing a “progressive ethos”—a mixture of idealistic vision and pragmatic reforms—which dominated the mainstream reforms that characterized the period, Chambers elaborates the role of civic volunteerism as well as the state in achieving directed social change. He also emphasizes the importance of radical and conservative political forces in shaping the so-called “Progressive Era.”

The revised edition in this classic work has an updated bibliography and a new preface, both of which incorporate particularly the new social and cultural research of the past decade.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Between 1890 and 1920, the forces accompanying industrialization sent the familiar nineteenth-century world plummeting toward extinction. The traditional countryside , with its villages and family farms, was eclipsed by giant corporations and sprawling cities.

In lively, accessible prose, John Chambers incorporates into his book the latest scholarship about the social, cultural, political, and economic changes that produced modern America. He illuminates the experiences of blacks, Asians, Latinos, as well as other working men and women in the cities and countryside, as they struggled to improve their lives in a transformed economy.

Striding these pages are many of the prominent individuals who shaped the attitudes and institutions of modern America: J.P. Morgan and corporate reorganization; Jane Addams and the origin of modern social work; Mary Pickford and the new star-oriented motion picture industry; and the radical laor challenge of "Big Bill" Haywood and the "Wobblies."

While recognizing a 'progressive ethos'- a mixture of idealistic vision and pragmatic reforms that characterized the period- Chambers elaborates the role of civic volunteerism as well as the state in achieving directed social change. He also emphasizes the importance of radical and conservative forces in shaping the so-called "Progressive Era."

The revised edition of this classic work has an updated bibliography and a new preface, both of which incorporate the new social and cultural research of the past decade.

About the Author

John Whiteclay Chambers II is professor of history at Rutgers University. He recently co-edited The New Conscientious Objection and is the author of To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rutgers University Press; 2nd edition (March 1, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0813527996
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0813527994
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #325,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,347 in United States History (Books)

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Dona Munker

A must-have survey of the era for graduate students, researchers, and any historian who enjoys reading well-written history

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2013

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I'm an independent researcher working on a nonfiction book set in the Progressive Era. I'd been looking for years for something that would give me a real overview, but there is a wealth of books to choose from, and all those I came across were either too superficial for my needs or too specific or academic.

When I stumbled across THE TYRANNY OF CHANGE (3rd edition) in the course of an Internet search for something else, I used the Look Inside feature and saw immediately that this revised 1980s book was the overview I'd been looking for. Chambers covers all the essential topics a researcher needs to know about, logically and in depth, but always from the point of view of the enormous changes that took place in American life in this period. His sympathies, obviously, are "progressive," but doesn't seem to have an agenda or an ax to grind, and his writing is clear and readable. In fact, THE TYRANNY OF CHANGE has become my lunchtime reading--so much that before I went on vacation, I purchased the Kindle edition as well. I would write the author a fan letter, but I'm too busy enjoying his book. :)

Bottom line: I highly recommend this to anyone in need of a well-written history that surveys the whole forest while not losing sight of the trees.

13 people found this helpful

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R. Albin

Excellent Overview; 4.5 Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2014

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This well written survey is an excellent overview of the Progressive era. Chambers combines solid narrative with thoughtful analyses in covering the major events and trends in political, economic, social, and intellectual-cultural history. This book features 3 major themes about the Progressive era and progressive movement. The first is captured nicely in the title. This is a period of major changes in American life; the continued impact of industrialization and urbanization, major economic fluctuations and increasing concentration of economic power, the consolidation of large, national corporate bureacracies, the development of national interest group politics, greater ethnic diversification through major immigration (including internal immigration such as the movement of African-Americans to the North), the increasing power and expansion of the Executive branch of the Federal government and particularly the Presidency, and the USA's emergence as a major international power. The second is what Chambers calls "interventionism." This is the gradual abandonment, paticularly by American middling classes squeezed between the emergent plutocracy and the greatly expanded and strongly immigrant urban working classes, of the highly individualistic, open market attitudes to economics and politics. Finally, Chambers' discussions stress the considerable heterogeneity of the progressive movement.

Chambers opens by nicely laying out the magnitude of the major changes in American life, sketching out major economic and demographic changes, increasing urbanization and social differentiation, the beginnings of mass consumer culture, and changes in family life and the roles of women. Much of what follows is descriptions of the responses to these great social changes. Chambers stresses the diverse nature of interventionism. This includes not only expanding government, particularly Federal, roles in the economy and social policy but also greatly expanded private efforts including professional organizations, public-private partnerships to address economic and social problems, and interest group politics. Chambers suggests, for example, that interventionism includes increased Federal regulation of corporations and cartelization attempts to reduce "destructive" competition. The heterogeneity of these efforts shows the considerable heterogeneity of the progressive movement. As Chambers demonstrates, the progressive movement was a coalition pursuing some common themes but not unified by a coherent ideology or program. The progressives included the bellicose Teddy Roosevelt, pacifist reformers like Jane Addams, racist reformers like a large number of Southern and Western politicians, and more liberal (in the modern sense) individuals like La Follette and Dewey. In a particularly nice analysis, Chambers describes the progressives as "evangelistic modernizers" combining the structure and fervor of 19th century Protestant revivalism with a strong commitment to professional management and belief in science. Chambers also shows well the continuity of progressivism as a domestic reform movement with Wilson's ernest and arguably somewhat naive foreign policy.

The narrative sections nicely convey the complexity of events, charting the ups and downs of progressivism and challenges from both conservative forces in American life and the lesser challenges from the Left. The considerable divisions of American life, particularly the efforts to Americanize or Anglo-Saxonize immigrants, the great racism manifested by anti-Asian bigotry on the West Coast and increasing lynching in the South, and enormous labor unrest.are described very well. The political history, focusing on the great expansion of Presidential power by Roosevelt and Wilson, is covered very well. The US experience of WWI is also discussed very well, including both its domestic impact, particularly the role it played in the demise of the progressive movement and the way it prefigured later expansions of Federal power, and the international dimensions.

This book has an excellent annotated bibliography and suggestions for further reading.

15 people found this helpful

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R. Ferris

A solid survey and introduction to the period. I ...

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2017

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A solid survey and introduction to the period. I selected it to understand what was going on in the country leading up to, and as a backdrop to, WWI. My only criticisms are that I found the writing a little dry in the initial chapters, but that improved; and there was a lot of material to get through before reading the period 1890-1920.

One person found this helpful

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Ray

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2017

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Excellent!

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