The Muckraking Industry During The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era was a period of immense change during the turn of the nineteenth century. Progressives were a diverse group of politicians and citizens who desired a change in the economic, social, and political atmosphere of the time. Their activism and reform come under question from historians because of their lack of unity, and thus the validity and effectiveness of the movement is challenged. However, the Progressives were successful to a certain extent- they were successful in influencing legislation for general improvements, despite their lack of homogeneity.

Tarbell had a concern about the monopolies due to the experiences she had as a child. Growing up in the south, and seeing her father struggle to keep the family business from going under. She really focused in on the topic of business and the large companies. (The Biography.com editors, "Ida Tarbell Biography") Tarbell is best known for her series “The History of the Standard Oil Company” published from 1902 through 1904.

During industrialization many problems were created that had to be fixed during the Progressive Era. Most of these problems were brought out into the light by muckrakers by using novels and political cartoons. After the people realized what was happening many laws were created to help fix these problems. One of the most famous muckrakers is Upton Sinclair, who wrote the novel, The Jungle.

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,

he Progressive Era was when Americans were getting more rights and our country’s economy was changing for the better. There were also people called muckrakers who helped expose the truth about were the poor immigrants of America were living and what the meat making industry was really like. There was also a lot child labor happening which was when children worked in terrible working conditions and didn’t get paid as much as adults did. The senators at the time of the suffrage movement were usually the corrupt business owners of america who would use trusts and monopolies to keep their businesses going. Women were also fighting to have the same amount of rights as men did during this time.

Beginning in the late 19th Century, the Gilded Age was a historic period of time characterized by political corruption and angry sentiment towards government. As citizens of the United States became increasingly discontent about the current state of the nation, they started to express this anger in the form of reform movements. Leading up to the Progressive Era movements were various social, economic, and political concerns that revolved around political leaders failing to meet the needs of people. The rise of the Progressive Reform movements in the years 1870-1917 was largely influenced by conflict in the working class, governmental influence of big business, and the absence of civil rights for many American citizens.

Author name Upton Sinclair, it is a Political fiction book. It described the horrible condition of meat workers. In that era labors got treated really badly, they didn’t had any safe environment to work in. It explained how backwards we were. We had same circumstances going on in many corners of world.

One of the most influential muckrakers of this time was Ida Tarbell. She spent five years of her life researching her expose of the Standard Oil Company. In the book "The History Of The Standard Oil Company" she describes the firm's cut-throat methods of eliminating competition. Another influential Muckraker at this time was Upton Sinclair. He wrote the book The Jungle.

In early 1900, specifically, 1906, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written. This novel told the story of a Lithuanian immigrant who worked in a filthy Chicago meatpacking plant. It exposed the meatpacking industry by stating their vile practices not only towards their meat but their workers as well. This was a result of the combination of many immigrants in the United States to pursue a better life, and the fact that many big industries were looking for ways to maximize their profit.

Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food. Body 1: The meat packing industry’s working conditions were much worse in the 1900’s than they are today. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, working conditions were horrible for immigrants who were employed in these factories. People in these factories were worked very hard and used up till they could not work anymore. In the novel Jurgis broke his ankle because of the unsafe

The Progressive Era was a period of time, from 1890 to 1920, that people start believing that the society problem could be faded by providing a safe environment, good education and an efficient workplace. The people who wanted changes in the society were called Progressives. Most of them were well educated, journalist, they went to college. There were a lot of problems that people tried to fix them or improve them, most of them were fixed but other we are still trying to fix them. During this period there were a lot of issues and problems but there were some prominent ones, like: Women Suffrage, Temperance or Food and Health.

The “Progressive Movement was an early-20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunity, and to correct injustices in American life.” (Danzer R54). The Progressive Era marked the end of the “Gilded Ages” and a start of a new era. The Progressive Era started in 1901 in the United States (Fagnilli 26). There were many major reforms in the Progressive Era that altered and advanced American society.

The progressive movement was formed with an effort of cure to all the ills which had developed in the United States during the time of industrial growth in the last quarter of 19th century. The Progressive Era aimed at reforming the conditions for all workers and also to humanize how prisoners and mentally ill people were being treated. Another reform effort was during the period of reconstruction which lasted up to the time that America entered into the First World War. The reform was to address the issues of women rights and the temperance movement during the Progressive Era (Fox & Picillo, 2016).

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.

M. Tarbell. She was not only female in a male dominated field; her honesty and integrity were recognized, The United States had a boom in capitalism and businesses thrived in the late 19th century, however, corruption was rampant. Ida M. Tarbell not only broke gender roles she exposed the corruption of Standard Oil; the result was new government regulations. Where did this remarkable woman come from? Where did Ida’s passion to expose Standard Oil come from?