1. Muckrakers of the Progressive Reform Era

2. Muckrakers
Journalists who attempted to expose the evils of big business and corrupt government
The purpose of their reports was to educate the people about a problem and to encourage them to take action

3. What were the goals of the Progressives?
To meet the challenges presented by industrialization and urbanization
To break up the monopolies and restore competition
To break the power of political machines and improve democracy
To improve the quality of life for the people of the United States

4. Who were the Progressives?
Urban, middle class
Men and women
Democrats and Republicans
Well educated
Believers in capitalism (not socialism)
Pragmatic – simple solutions to complex problems
All levels of government
Attempted a variety of reforms
Optimistic

5. Upton Sinclair – The Jungle
FOOD INDUSTRY
Exposed the evils in the meatpacking industry
Resulted in the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act

6. Upton Sinclair Was a Socialist
When interviewed, he said that he “aimed at the country’s heart, but instead, hit them in the stomach”

7. Ida Tarbell – A History of Standard Oil (Co.)
MONOPOLIES
to expose the ruthless practices of John Rockefeller
VS.

8. Jacob Riis – A Muckraking Photojournalist
URBAN POOR
Immigrant from Denmark
Worked as a police reporter and photographer
Most famous work: How the Other Half Lives
Exposed living and working conditions of urban poor

9. Five Cents Lodging

10. Children Sleeping in Mulberry Street

12. Girls on a Stoop

13. Home of an Italian Rag Picker

14. Tenement Yard

15. Room in a Tenement Flat

16. Cityscape

17. A New York City Peddler

18. A Ludlow Street Sweatshop

19. Bandit’s Roost 59 ½ Mulberry Street

20. Men’s Lodging Room in West 47th Street Station

21. Women’s Lodging Room in West 47th Street Station

22. Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of the Cities
Told of the political corruption in Philadelphia
New types of city government organization introduced (city manager)

23. Jane Addams Urban and Immigrant Poor
Settlement Houses: located in working class areas, offered help for new immigrants
Hull House, Chicago established; devoted to helping urban poor

24. US Department of Labor
Child Labor
Compulsory Education

25. Frank Norris – The Octopus
told of the struggle against the railroad monopolies