The Progressive Era The Muckrakers Muckrakers Began writing

The Progressive Era The Muckrakers

Muckrakers • Began writing in late 19 th/early 20 th century • Mukrakers—term given to crusading journalists by President Theodore Roosevelt • TR accused a journalist of ‘raking up muck’ through his writings • Group of crusading journalists—began directing public attention toward social, economic, & political injustices • Goals— • To expose scandal, corruption, and injustice to

Muckrakers • How they achieved their goals— • Exposés— • A form of investigative journalism in which the author/reporter delves into a common place subject & discovers scandal or other misdeeds • An article or book intended to reveal shocking or surprising information • Muckrakers target groups and controversial topics— • Trusts, railroads, labor unions, oil companies, natural resources, immigrant ghettos, government

Muckrakers • Through their writings, the muckrakers expressed basic progressive ideals: • Efficiency & organization • Opposition to monopoly • Belief in social unity in the face of injustice & corruption

Famous Muckrakers Ida Tarbell Francis Adams Joseph Lincoln Steffens. Charles

Ida Tarbell • Muckraking journalist best known for the two volume work, originally articles for Mc. Clure's Magazine, on John D. Rockefeller and his oil interests: The History of the Standard Oil Company, published 1904. • The exposé resulted in federal action and eventually in the breakup Ida Tarbell

Joseph Lincoln Steffens • 1892 Steffens became a reporter on the New York Evening Post. • He later he became editor of Mc. Clure's Magazine, where he became associated with the style of investigative journalism that became known as muckraking. • One of Steffen's major investigations involved exposing local government corruption. A collection of Steffen's articles appeared in the book The Shame of the Cities (1904). This was followed by an investigation into state politicians, The Struggle for Self- Joseph Lincoln Steffens

Charles Francis Adams, Jr. • Served in the Union Army until 1865, • Post army career—studied the railroad situation, writing and publishing articles that led to his appointment on the Massachusetts railroad commission in 1869. • 1869—he published a remarkable essay, A Chapter in Erie, which exposed the methods by which some of the leading railroad directors manipulated the stocks of their roads for their own benefit. • He became a government director of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1882 and served as its president from 1884 to 1890. Charles Francis Adams, • Upon retiring, he wrote many books &

What impact did the Muckrakers have on Progressive Reforms? Make a list of 5 ways in which the muckrakers were able to help facilitate reforms during the Progressive Era. • • •