The Progressive Era: Muckrakers and Reform

• The late 1800s was known as the Gilded Age, where business titans like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller dominated the United States.
• Labor unions struggled to reform working conditions due to the immense power of big business.
• Jacob Riis's photojournalism in How the Other Half Lives (1890) visually exposed the harsh living and working conditions in New York City.
• By 1890, the United States was ready for reform that would result in major reforms in various aspects of life known as the Progressive Era.
• Muckrakers were journalists who exposed injustices in workplaces and business practices, advocating for reform.
• President Teddy Roosevelt coined the term "Muckraker" in 1906 to describe these journalists.
• Muckrakers brought awareness to the plight of industrial workers and poor quality of goods, resulting in major reforms.

Lincoln Steffens

• Lincoln Steffens was a muckraker who worked as a journalist in New York City, and eventually became the managing editor of McClure's magazine.
• In 1902, Steffens exposed political corruption in St. Louis in his article "Tweed Days in St. Louis".
• The Shame of the Cities (1904) exposed corruption in cities like New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis.
• Steffens's writings led to reforms in local governments.

Ida Tarbell

• Ida Tarbell wrote about the business practices of Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
• Her series of 19 articles were published as The History of Standard Oil in 1904, revealing Standard Oil's monopolization.
• The U.S. Supreme Court broke up Standard Oil into 34 smaller companies in 1911 due to Tarbell's work and the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Upton Sinclair

• Upton Sinclair exposed dangerous working conditions in the meatpacking industry.
• His 1906 novel, The Jungle, was set in a meatpacking plant in Chicago.
• The Jungle revealed the unsafe working conditions of the meatpacking industry for workers.
• Readers were more concerned about the quality of meat than working conditions.
• President Roosevelt ordered a federal investigation that confirmed Sinclair's account.
• The Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act were passed in 1906, establishing food regulations.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was established to regulate products consumed in the United States.

John Spargo and William Hard

• John Spargo examined child labor in the United States.
• His 1906 book, The Bitter Cry of the Children, exposed child labor in the coal industry.
• William Hard focused on dangerous working conditions in the steel industry in Making Steel and Killing Men (1907).
• Spargo and Hard's publications fueled the Progressives' calls for greater reform and improved working conditions for industrial workers

Ray Stannard Baker

• Ray Stannard Baker wrote under the pen name David Grayson, and exposed corruption in the railroad industry and financial institutions.
• In 1908, Baker published Following the Color Line, which covered the struggles of African Americans.
• Baker was one of the first American journalists to address racial issues, including lynchings, poverty, and Jim Crow laws.

Explore the Progressive Era, marked by reform efforts following the Gilded Age. Muckrakers like Lincoln Steffens exposed injustices, raising awareness about industrial workers' conditions and product quality. These efforts led to significant reforms in various aspects of American life.