What is the relationship between progressivism and America’s founding?

Well, let’s set the record straight here. Conservatives have spent an enormous amount of time distorting the relationship between progressivism and the founding. Anybody who’s actually looked at the history of progressivism and progressive social movements over time understands that the founding means a great deal to us as progressives, primarily the values of liberty, equality, and a commitment to the general welfare that are seen in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. These primary values—these animating values of the country—have been the basis of almost all progressive social movements throughout time, whether it’s abolition, women’s suffrage, civil rights, environmentalism, the expansion of social welfare provisions—all of these things for progressives are grounded in the animating spirit of the founding of the nation.

How did Thomas Jefferson influence progressive thought?

Jefferson, of course, as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, put forth the very progressive, liberal notions of liberty and equality and a commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are essential values to progressives; they’ve animated almost all of our social actions over time, and they remain important to us today. Jefferson is also important to progressives for his civic republican ideas. He talked a lot about self-determination and economic independence, that in order to be a good citizen, you had to be free in many ways, free to carry out your duties, and this was an original republican notion from the founding. And the third thing that people looked to Jefferson for from the progressive side was his understanding of the evolution of institutions and laws. Jefferson was very clear that documents like the Constitution, other institutions and laws should not be set in stone; that with the advancement of human knowledge and progress in general, our institutions and laws should be updated, that we shouldn’t be beholden to the interpretations of earlier generations. This was a very powerful concept for a lot of the original progressive writers who were trying to update, again, the American tradition to fit its animating spirit of liberty, equality, and commitment to the general welfare but make it relevant for modern times, which of course in the early 20th century was in response to the hardships of industrialization.

How did Alexander Hamilton influence progressive thought?

Most people would not normally associate Hamilton with liberal or progressive thought given some of the early fights between Jefferson and Hamilton. But Hamilton actually plays a large role in progressive thought and it’s primarily for his contributions to the Constitution and his notion of national prosperity requiring public investments. He was a very ardent proponent of strengthening the original Constitution, again, rejecting the sort of weak Articles of Confederation, where there wasn’t a strong national authority. He believed heavily that national prosperity, the growth of the economy, American welfare in general required very strong central government. That was one of the animating principles of his defense of the Constitution and it led to his defense of the national bank, and it was drawn on for public investments, canals, rivers, roads, and other types of infrastructural improvements that eventually allowed American industry to advance and for the nation to become quite prosperous. So Hamilton, who many people may have derided as somewhat of an aristocrat, somewhat elitist, actually had very far-reaching ideas about how government could be used for the common good, for public purposes. And so, at the turn of the 20th century, what you get is a synthesis in progressive thought where Hamiltonian means, meaning a national government, are used to achieve Jeffersonian ends. This was a famous configuration in Herbert Crowley’s writing, that it took stronger national institutions to meet and bring about the actual defense of democracy, real liberty, and real equality.