ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Progressive Party (United States, 1912)

Okay kiddo, so back in 1912 in the United States, there was an election coming up, and a group of people who felt unhappy with the way things were being run in the country decided to form their own political party called the Progressive Party. They wanted some big changes to happen, and they felt that the existing political parties weren't doing enough to make those changes possible.

Now, this group of people had some really important names in it, like a former president named Theodore Roosevelt, who was actually pretty famous at the time, and a bunch of other influential folks. They came up with a set of policies and aims that they thought would make the country better, and they wanted to convince the people of America to vote for them to put those policies into action.

One of the key things they wanted was for the government to take a much more active role in regulating large companies and making sure they were behaving ethically and not just lining their own pockets. They also wanted to create more opportunities for ordinary people to get ahead and have better lives, by providing things like better education and more job protections.

The Progressive Party was also really concerned about the environment and wanted to make sure that natural resources were being used wisely and that pollution was kept to a minimum. They believed that there needed to be more oversight of public services like transportation and healthcare, to make sure they were serving everyone fairly and not just the wealthy or powerful.

The Progressive Party didn't end up winning the election that year, but it did have an impact in other ways. Some of the policies they campaigned on ended up being implemented over time, like the creation of the National Park Service, which made it possible for people to enjoy natural spaces all over the country. Even though they didn't win, the Progressive Party helped to shift the conversation around what was possible in American politics and set the stage for future changes that would benefit everyone.