Final answer:
Most Progressives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries held complex, often contradictory attitudes towards minorities and immigrant groups, balancing social justice efforts with prevalent prejudices. While some Progressives advocated for the rights of African Americans, ethnic minorities, and immigrants, others participated in or tolerated discrimination against groups such as Asian Americans, and later Southern and Eastern European immigrants. This led to a range of experiences for these populations, from assimilation to enduring systemic prejudice and violence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The attitudes of most Progressives toward minorities and immigrant groups during the late 19th and early 20th centuries were complex and often contradictory. While some Progressives fought for social justice and worked towards assisting those suffering from inequality, such as African Americans, other ethnic groups, women, and poor immigrants, there was also a strong current of discriminating attitudes among many. On one hand, figures like Jane Addams and Lillian Wald actively worked to provide social services and help the working class through movements like the settlement house movement. On the other hand, attitudes toward Asian immigrants, particularly on the West Coast, were negative, with laws that sanctioned racism and placed a stigma on Asian Americans. Similarly, later waves of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe faced intense discrimination and prejudice from dominant groups that included second- and third-generation immigrants themselves from Western Europe.
Pioneers such as Thaddeus Stephens and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had complex viewpoints; while they agitated for rights of particular groups such as African Americans, they also expressed derogatory sentiments towards other minorities and immigrant groups. Discrimination and prejudice also extended towards later immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, with Italians, for example, facing segregated living conditions and lower wages, often undertaking dangerous labor that others were reluctant to take on.
Throughout this era, there were instances of assimilation efforts that united immigrant groups under a common 'white' identity, but many minorities and immigrant groups still encountered various forms of social and systemic prejudice and exclusion, affecting their opportunities and quality of life in the United States.