Brett Coleman3/4/2014Dr. SpellmanHST 368Socialism in the Progressive EraSocialism is a word that has gained a bad connotation in American society. Politicians are reluctant to claim it and often use it to criticize their political opponents. Yes, in many ways America seems to have embraced the economic benefits of capitalism so wholeheartedly, that the mere thought of socialism conjures thoughts of a tangled bureaucratic mess of welfare and wealth distribution that is so contrary to the American idea of individualism. Indeed, many still identify socialism with communism and think of the Cold War and the ideological battle it entailed. Many Americans would perhaps be quite surprised to learn that socialism had once found a place in American society and that it exerted considerable influence on the direction the country would take. This article proposes to argue that the rise of socialism in American Society was due largely to the reaction to American citizens' disenchantment with their governments and the effect that industrialization had on society. This historian proposes that, despite being the victim of great opposition, the socialist movement contributed to a series of reforms implemented during the Progressive Era. Historical evidence will show that many of the beliefs that guided the reforms of the time were propagated by individuals and groups associated with the socialist movement in America, and that it affected all geographic regions of the United States, although some more than others. Ultimately, the goal is to show how socialism, despite being considered anathema to being American in some quarters, was heavily involved in shaping society in the 1920s... middle of paper... ct. One event that really illuminates how serious this conflict of beliefs became was the Green Corn Rebellion in 1917. The Green Corn Rebellion was an armed resistance to Selective Service by a number of Working Class Union members in rural Oklahoma. The conflict took its name from the rebels' supposed intention to march to Washington and force the government to reject the draft, and along the way they would eat corn for sustenance. The rebellion was short-lived and unfortunately ended with the deaths of three individuals. The even more devastating effect of the rebellion was that many accused the Socialist Party of America and other left-wing groups of inciting the rebellion, and as a result the Socialist Party was virtually decimated in the region, made even more devastating by the fact that rural Oklahoma had been a bastion of the socialist movement.