In the Preface to A Fierce Discontent, Michael McGerr argues that “progressivism created much of our contemporary political predicament” (19). According to McGerr, Americans in the 2010s are disinterested in participating in political and government life—unlike Americans living at the turn of the 20th century. For this reason, people remain fascinated with the Progressive Era in American history—that period from 1870 to 1920 when everyday Americans felt a “fierce discontent” with the failures of society and relentlessly toiled to change their country.

Through his examination of four quintessential progressive battles—“to change other people; to end class conflict; to control big business; and to segregate society,” McGerr traces the rise and fall of progressivism in the United States (21). 

The book opens with a description of American society at the end of the 19th century, focusing on the differences in the values, behaviors, and conditions of life for the wealthy class—called the "upper ten"—the working or laboring class, and the farming class. McGerr supports the main point of this chapter by describing the varying ways of life of the different classes in American society; class differences were more pronounced at the end of the 19th century than at any other time in American history to that point.