Why was progressive reform more attractive to middle class Americans than to other "interest groups" at.....

Question

the time.....? Most active progressives were middle class Americans.....

Answer 1

Most revolutions, as any Marxist will tell you, start in universities. That is why, after the initial revolution, the counter revolution will usually get rid of the inteligencia who would question/threaten the new regime.

Most middle class peoples tend to have a stable life style, in that the threat of starvation or the rigors of poverty are not so great. Also and this is the important bit, they are educated. The can think about different ways of doing thing and have been educated about different cultures/ideas. The middle class therefore, are more likely to fuel change than the upper classes, who have a vested interest in the status quo or the working classes who lack the power or education to question/challenge their role in society.

Luck

Answer 2

Not so much an issue of attractiveness but more a matter of time & extra money & networking. Many middle class Americans were business owners and professionals their very mobility made them aware of disparities across America and through their associations they had access to information.

When I mention the time factor I refer to those wondeful unsung heroines - - - the women who spear headed the Abolition movement. Think about the 'hours,' I suspect days you spend on Yahoo Answers..... These women were from midle class backgrounds. Since they did not work or in certain cases were not expected to work, to get on with the 'business of marrying and chuild bearing,' these women took up causes. Abolition Equality Temperence and stomping out the 'evil weed,' tobacco, other weeds were recognized for their medicinal value! Add to their causes, Birth Control, Eliminating Poverty, Slum Clearance, etc.

And imagine, one of your 'contacts' is in Birminghah, Alabama, another in St Louis Missouri, would they object if you paid a visit, needed a room, were prepared to lecture for a 'progressive' reform. They would support you/them, help to fill a lecture hall, perhaps find another speaking engagement in the next town. The sound echoed across America. Free the Slaves, Free Women from Serfdom, Stop Drinking, and so on all because a bunch of women were tired of sitting at home sewing. Inexpensive paper, a good US Postal Service, not quite as quick as Yahoo Answers but effective.

When it comes to a support network the Middle Class is best for spreading ideas as Karl Marx noted, the poor are usually poor because all their friends & family are pour, and the Rich are walled inside their villas deaf to the clamor for change or defiant to keep old ways & standards....

Must admit though, when Women were fighting for 'rights,' most men were gentlemen enough to finally 'give in,' it is a lot harder hitting a woman in the face with a fist or merely its emotional equivalent......

Peace......................
PS Alex so smart and precise, just wish to add that in America revolutions start in High School, they grow and thrive Colleges & Universities - - - yes American Education Rules - - - See Adlai Stevenson the Third and the 'radical' Dartmouth School Paper. You would 'shocked' how liberal papers were at Harvard and Yale and Exeter and others.

Answer 3

This is a challenging question, and one that has been confusing me for quite a long time.