Final answer:
Progressive historians do not single out one writer or editor for the Historical Books. Instead, their focus was on the progressive development of societies, particularly emphasizing democratic and republican values based on European standards. Figures like Samuel Eliot Morison contributed to documenting this historical perspective.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Progressives do not recognize a single writer and editor of the Historical Books; rather, they viewed historical development through the lens of societies improving over time, particularly with the spread of democracy and republicanism based on a European model. This perspective is associated with a form of teleological history, suggesting an inevitable advance towards an end-goal—a culmination of human experience. Progressive historians like Samuel Eliot Morison, Henry Steele Commager, and William E. Leuchtenburg presented such views, highlighting the growth of societies towards what they considered modernity.
Using a progressive lens, historians chronicled the transition from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era, emphasizing the role of figures like President Theodore Roosevelt in fostering a strong, activist federal government. Influential works, such as Jane Addams's 'Twenty Years at Hull-House' and Samuel Eliot Morison's 'A Concise History of the American Republic', reinforce this narrative.
Additionally, economic critiques during this period, such as Henry George's 'Progress and Poverty', contributed to progressive thought by highlighting societal inequalities and proposing reforms, which indirectly influenced Progressive agendas.