The Progressives were people who were part of a movement that started in the cities. The Progressives wanted to address and solve the problems that city infrastructure was suffering from and end "bossism". Progressives believed that government resources could solve these problems. The movement peaked in 1910, where a stigma of conservationism was a death blow in politics. .
One group of Progressives was the "good government" advocates. These advocates would believe that the solution to reform was getting citizens more involved in politics. One way this group wanted to expand the rights of the citizens was to create laws that would allow prepositions for laws on the ballot. This way people could vote for legislation on Election Day. These advocates for good government often ended up as mayors, where they tried to clean up corruption.
Another group of Progressives were the women's rights advocates. The most important group of this movement was the National American Woman Suffrage Association, also knows as the "National American". This group was led by Carrie C. Catt. This Association was successful because during the Progressive Era many more women had had formal education and women's clubs were very popular. These clubs gave women organizational and civil experience. By the end of WWI, the National American had two million members. In 1920, the National American achieved its immediate goal by having the Nineteenth Amendment passed and ratified, so that women could vote. This group received opposition from both men and women, since the opposition's opinion was that if women would get the right to vote, women would neglect their husbands and children, and morals would loosen. .
A third group of Progressives were the anti-monopolists. This group argued that the monopolies would become more powerful than the government, and thus the country would be run by the owners of "Big Business". There were two subgroups in this part of the Progressive movement.
