ARTICLE REVIEW OF AMERICAN PROGRESSIVISM

Name

Institutional Affiliation

American Progressivism

Rodgers, D. T. (1998). Atlantic crossings. Harvard University Press.

Rodgers T. Daniel, an American historian currently, an emeritus professor at Princeton University, wrote the article, “American Progressivism in the Wider Atlantic World” in 1998.

Trade and capitalism were the two main activities that held the North Atlantic people together. As historical forces started to act on the US and other North Atlantic nations, the people had to embrace a new technique that could stabilize the region’s economy like Europe. These developments led to the emergence of social politics and social economy buildings. Rodgers (1998) argues that social politics determines the political ideologies and movements that act and shape a country rather than a continent. Despite its overwhelming challenges and confusion issues, social politics is quite pivotal in generating solutions.

European nations pioneered social politics and the economy, for instance, the French with the Eiffel Tower, Italians with cooperative savings banks, Belgians with low-cost housing, and Germans in the military (Rodgers, 1998). All these countries experienced the same themes, such as scramble for a place, passing of legislation from one nation to another, and party systems. The US scrambled to have a place in the global social economy by copying what European nations did. It created a social exhibit using the Greco-Roman architectural borrowings with its interiors filled with American-made material such as newspapers and stenographers. Later on, in the late nineteenth century, the Atlantic economy wanted a uniform Atlantic-wide socio-political system that could draw in all countries.

Rodgers (1998) has well addressed the social politics and economy of the US. He has first compared the Atlantic region with Europe, where European countries had an established socio-political economy. The writer’s ideologies cosign with the Rodgers (1998) on America’s efforts to develop a socio-economy building. Since the country wanted a global recognition, it had to borrow designs from other developed nations and localize it bringing it out as an American exhibit.

To sum it up, the US copied a lot of socio-political economy doings from its European counterparts. To create a social exhibit, the US had to use other countries’ designs but keep the products local. The country also copied the party system and legislation as an effort to stabilize the outpost nation’s economy. The article has provided a lot of information crucial in establishing the historical advancement of the US and the general Atlantic region, which can provide a basis for further research on history about the US and the Atlantic region.