Final answer:
Progressives aimed to regulate big business by preventing monopolies and ensuring fair competition through various anti-trust laws, and by protecting workers and consumers with safety standards and regulations. They also sought to reform the financial sector with the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
Step-by-step explanation:
Progressives believed that big business should be regulated in two principal ways. First, through governmental intervention to prevent monopolies and ensure fair competition, such as what was attempted through legislations like the Sherman and Clayton Anti-Trust Acts. This also included regulations imposing fairness and efficiency in business practices. The second way was establishing protections for workers and ensuring consumer safety with laws like the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. By imposing such regulations, Progressives aimed to combat the excessive power of large corporations, which they believed discouraged innovation and fair practices.
Moreover, Progressives aimed for financial reforms such as the establishment of the Federal Reserve System to stabilize the banking sector. They saw these types of regulations as a necessary compromise to maintain a balance between pure capitalism and the potential rise of socialism, by creating a framework where businesses, workers, and the public could coexist harmoniously.