Muckrakers During The Progressive Era

Directly after the end of World War II, the United States faced a time like no other—the Cold War. The fear of communism and the totalitarian Soviet Union grew rampant, and the possibility of an impending all-out nuclear war gripped American minds. During this time, the fear of a breach in national security heightened, and a loyalty review program in the government was introduced by President Truman. Soon, this practice crept into society, as everyday citizens undertook the responsibility of “policing” each other—determining each other’s loyalty, with suspicion constantly clouding one’s mind. Amidst this, American historian Henry Steele Commager, a product of the University of Chicago “…where he received his Ph.B. and M.A. in philosophy…and returned for his Ph.D.” ("Commager, Henry Steele”), stepped onto the scene to dispute the anti-communist crusade he noticed was running rampant in his nation.

As a result all of Kent State’s communications broke down. The shootings caused massive protests, both violent and nonviolent. The protests caused 450 other campuses around the nation to close down. One specific group of protesters at New York University hung a banner outside of a school window that said “They Can’t Kill Us All”. On May 8th at the University of Mexico, eleven people were bayoneted after trying to confront protesters at the school.

After several meetings, NAACP officials registered nine black students to the all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957. These students were

Ida Tarbell (1857-1944) was a teacher, biographer, author and editor as well as a pioneer of investigative journalism. She became famous for her serialized political biographies on figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) in McClure 's (1894-1904) and American Magazine (1906-1915) as well as for her reports on the corporate monopoly of John D. Rockefeller 's (1839-1937) business practices in The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904). Her reports on Rockefeller 's business are considered seminal works of investigative journalism, and they led to the dissolution of the Standard Oil Corporation and resulted in President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) labelling newspaper reporters like Tarbell as muckrakers. Despite being an accomplished woman who was considered pre-eminent in her field and a seminal part of the growing woman 's movement in her time, Tarbell was also known for advocating an anti-suffrage position,

The story of the Little Rock Nine takes place in the Spring of 1957, and there were 517 African American students who lived in the Central High School District located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although, eighty students took an interest in accompanying Central during the fall semester. These African American students had the opportunity to be interviewed by the Little Rock School Board. Out of the results of the interview, seventeen of the eighty African American students were eligible to attend Central High School. As the Central High School fall semester began, only nine of the seventeen students decided to attend Central High School.

The nine weren’t able to participate in some of the school activities that went on for other students. One of the Little Rock Nine, Minnijean Brown, had food spilled on her. The students who did it never got in trouble. When Brown decided she had enough and decided to spill food back on them, she got suspended. She had also been hit with a purse from one of the other students (Smithsonian.com).

Tear gas canisters and rocks were being thrown back and forth from the guards and the protestors until things went out of hand. The National Guards opened fire at the rally for as long as 13 seconds. A total of sixty-seven shots were fired. When the long 13 seconds ended, nine students were down wounded, and four students killed. Two of the students who died were not a part of the rally and the other two were involved.

Populism and Progressivism were two very important movements in US history, that occurred during the outbreaks of the workers union after the civil war. These movements led to the formation of the Populist party in 1892 and the Progressive party in 1912. While there are many similarities between the two movements, they are also very different. The two parties fought for very similar things.

During September of 1957, nine black students were to attend an all-white school, which was agreed to by the school board years before. With Superintendent Virgil Blossom proposing the plan in the first place the day had finally came, “The School Board voted unanimously in favor of this plan, but when the 1957 school year began, the community still raged over integration”(Source 2, par.2). In the hope that whites would be open to the idea of some new colored students, they treated them with disrespect and raged constantly. Many segregationists had threatened the students and to hold protest against them, also by physically blocking the students from entering inside the high school. For the next few months, the students were

The progressive era which lasted from 1890-1920 in American society was the institution of radical reforms brought about by the millions of Americans involved in volunteer organizations across the country. During this time Americans worked to create solutions to the problems caused by the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the country. The progressive era was not a single movement, but rather a collection of movements all of which were intended to improve the lives of Americans. This was a truly remarkable time for women and the end of the era would see almost universal women’s suffrage with the passing of the nineteenth amendment in 1920.

“Little Rock Desegregation Crisis.” American History, ABC-CLIO, 2018, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/383021. Accessed 10 Jan. 2018. This source was about the events leading up to the Little Rock Nine entering Central High School, and the actions that were taken by the Governor and President at this time. It explained the reactions of students, Orval Faubus, and Dwight D. Eisenhower after the nine students tried to enter the school.

The work of Samuel Gompers acted as a catalyst to the dawning of the Progressive Era. Gompers’ revolutionary union work advocated for social justice and regulation within factories. HIs work with expanding the rights of workers through factory regulation and organized unions was continued even after his death by the organization her started in 1886. The American Federation of Labor outlasted even the Knights of Labor, and today is still a well respected organization. The American Federation of Labor grew from 50,000 members in 1886, to nearly 3 million members in 1924.

Jane Addams The Progressive Era, 1890-1920, accomplished great change in the Unites States of America. Many reformers and activits demanded for change in education, food and drug policies, and most importantly the govermenet. The goal for the movement was the purify the nation. One of the main activits during this time was Jane Addams. Jane Addams is often refered to as a social and political pioneer.

The Little Rock Nine was a group of 9 black students that enrolled at Central High School of Little Rock, Arkansas. The students included oldest, Ernest Green, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls. Daisy Bates was the activist that carefully selected the students, and helped them become the first African Americans to attend the

Women in the Progressive Era The Progressive Era was a time of change across America, a time when the country chose to reform into an industrialized urban country. Prosperity was widespread across America, so people turned to social issues to try to expand. Minorities in particular became a focus of this time period, and everyone tried to find a way to integrate them into society.