School history textbooks all have a one-sided view of the progressive era, calling it a time of much needed social change that benefitted the poor immigrants and the working class, while halting the "evils" of capitalism and its henchman (Morgan, Rockefeller, Gould.) After reading Rothbard's The Case Against the Fed, it seems clear that the government interference and regulation was secretly to benefit those "henchmen." After all, it was Morgan and Rockefeller who fought for the central banks as well as government regulations (i.e. ICC). This period of history has been clouded by so many viewpoints and its hard to see through the fog. Does anyone know of good books about the truth of the Progressive Era? I need more insight for my high school history class.
Whoever wants peace among nations must seek to limit the state and its influence most strictly. -Ludwig von Mises
I would really like to know this as well. I've gotten through learning on my own how the many so called progressives embraced eugenics and rationalized using the minimum wage to keep the "undesireable races" from moving up the working ladder. There are also the popular myths of "trust busting" and stopping evil standard oil. This is probably one of the worst eras in the United States I mean what can top the time where we were able to get the Fed, the income tax, and our Wilsonian foreign policy which we still believe in today.