Which movement split the Republican Party in the early 20th century?

Which movement split the Republican Party in the early 20th century?

• A. Progressive Party
• B. Democratic Party
• C. Republican Party
• D. Socialist Party

Answer: (A)

The Progressive movement caused a split within the Republican Party in the early 20th century. During the Progressive Era, reform-minded leaders pushed for anti-trust action, government regulation of big business, labor protections, women's suffrage, and measures to make democracy more direct. Within the Republican ranks, two presidents—Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—represented different approaches to progressivism. When Taft moved away from Roosevelt’s more aggressive reforms, Roosevelt broke away and formed his own party, the Progressive Party (often called the Bull Moose Party), for the 1912 election. That division divided the Republican vote and helped Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, win the presidency. The other options don’t describe a reform movement within the Republicans: the Democratic Party remained intact, the Socialist Party was a smaller third party, and the split was specifically driven by a faction within the Republican ranks—the Progressive movement.

The Progressive movement caused a split within the Republican Party in the early 20th century. During the Progressive Era, reform-minded leaders pushed for anti-trust action, government regulation of big business, labor protections, women's suffrage, and measures to make democracy more direct. Within the Republican ranks, two presidents—Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—represented different approaches to progressivism. When Taft moved away from Roosevelt’s more aggressive reforms, Roosevelt broke away and formed his own party, the Progressive Party (often called the Bull Moose Party), for the 1912 election. That division divided the Republican vote and helped Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, win the presidency. The other options don’t describe a reform movement within the Republicans: the Democratic Party remained intact, the Socialist Party was a smaller third party, and the split was specifically driven by a faction within the Republican ranks—the Progressive movement.