Muckraking. The public was becoming more and more informed throughout the Progressive Era. Muckraking, the predecessor to investigative journalism, would play a major role in exposing social problems. Muckrakers had a huge impact on the changing societal landscape and investigated anything that they felt was corrupt and needed reform, such as unsanitary conditions and housing. Two Famous muckrakers, Upton Sinclair and Jacob Riis, wrote books that would expose two of the biggest scandals of the Progressive Era. The Jungle. One of the most famous muckrakers, Upton Sinclair, published The Jungle in 1906, and it immediately became an international best-seller. Sinclair, who had joined the Socialist party in 1903 originally wrote The Jungle for the socialist magazine, The Appeal to Reason (Constitutional Rights Foundation). He spent time in the Chicago meatpacking district so he could truly see what was going on. What Sinclair witnessed was appalling. He saw sausage that had traveled to and from Europe, poisoned bread and dead rats being put in the hopper that ground the sausage. Instead of smoking the sausage, they preserved the meat with borax and used gelatin to color it (Sinclair 168-169). Although Sinclair wrote The Jungle to show his readers the evils of capitalism, people were more appalled at the disgusting and unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry. The Jungle caused such an outcry that President Roosevelt tried to mandate government enforcement of sanitary and health standards in the food industry. After Congress wouldn’t pass a meat inspection bill, Roosevelt released the findings of the Neill-Reynolds report. The Neill-Reynolds’s report found that the meat packing industry was as horrendous as Sinclair claime... ... middle of paper ... ...the coal miners didn’t get a change in the way coal was weighed or official recognition of the UMW, the Progressives won this fight because their voices had been heard. Roosevelt’s arbitration in this matter linked public interest and state power, and in the process offered a progressive example for labor relations (McGerr 124). Child Labor. The 1890 census showed that more than one million children, ages ten to fifteen, were working in America. By 1910, that number increased to two million (Davis). Children as young as five could be found in glass making factories, canneries and home industries. Their workday could be as long as eighteen hours and would only get paid a fraction of what an adult would. Yetta Adelman, a Polish garment worker said “I was twelve years old but I wasn’t. Compared to a child [born] here in the United States, I was twenty (McGerr 18).”
At the start of the 20th century, journalists had begun to play an important role in exposing wrongdoings within politics and society. These journalists, often called muckrakers, used their journalism to focus on political flaws and corruption in city governments. Several popular publishers adopted this form of journalism, which became widely popular
Sinclair agreed to "investigate working conditions in Chicago's meatpacking plants," for the Socialist journal, Appeal to Reason, in 1904. The Jungle, published in 1906, is Sinclair's most popular and influential work. It is also his first of many "muckraker" pieces. In order to improve society, muckrakers wanted to expose any injustice on human rights or well-being. Therefore, it was Sinclair's goal to expose the harsh treatment of factory workers through The Jungle. The improvement on society, that he hoped would follow, was the reformation of labor.
Upton Sinclair's Purpose in Writing The Jungle Upton Sinclair wrote this book for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, he tries to awaken the reader to the terrible. living conditions of immigrants in the cities around the turn of the century. Chicago has the most potent examples of these. conditions.
The Jungle, the 1906 exposé of the Chicago meatpacking industry. The novel focuses on an immigrant family and sympathetically and realistically describes their struggles with loan sharks and others who take advantage of their innocence. More importantly, Sinclair graphically describes the brutal working conditions of those who find work in the stockyards. Sinclair's description of the main character's
Muckraking was a powerful journalistic force, whose supporters made it become so. Muckraking was the practice of writers and critics exposing corrupt politicians and business practices. President Theodore Roosevelt made the term "muck-raker" popular. He once said
One common misconception is to view the Progressive movement as a unified core of reform-minded crusaders dedicated to improving the social welfare of American society. While this viewpoint is not entirely incorrect, it is only a partial and thereby misleading assessment of the movement that categorized the early part of the nineteenth-century. What some may fail to appreciate is the duality of the period-the cry for social welfare reforms juxtaposed against the demand for optimum efficiency through scientific controls.
Industrialization led to the rise of big businesses at the expense of the worker. Factory laborers faced long hours, low wages, and unsanitary conditions. The large corporations protected themselves by allying with political parties. The parties, in turn, were controlled by party leaders, rather than by the members. Many people felt that all power rested with the politicians and businessmen. Reformers known as Progressives attempted to undo the problems caused by industrialization. The Progressive movement sought to end the influence of large corporations, provide more rights and benefits to workers, and end the control possessed by party leaders. At the national level, Progressivism centered on defeating the power of large businesses. The Progressive Era was a period in American history in which improving working conditions, exposing corruption, improving the way of life, expanding democracy, and making reforms were the objectives at hand. With the emergence of the Progressive Era two important figures gradually emerged as well. One of the mentioned figures, President Theodore Roosevelt, succeeded to the Presidency when President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, helped the Progressive movement greatly. Another figure, although a Democrat is Woodrow Wilson who much like Roosevelt still pushed for progressive reforms. Each of the mentioned figures did their share in re-establishing a “fair” government that would work for the people and not for the large corporations and mon...
During the Progressive Era, occurring from 1890 until 1920, progressives attempted to make many changes at a national level and were characterized by support for economic, social, and political reforms. By realizing the rapid industrial growth, poor class, and immigration, progressive’s goals were to relieve these issues and create laws that gave the common people more power. Progressive reformers gave significance to issues of black rights and also to women suffrage, however these issues had proved to be forgotten by Woodrow Wilson, whom of which was the president during this time. Although the reformers were not successful with these two issues, they seemed to be successful in improving much of the other negativity that had occurred during this era including the working conditions of the meat industry, child labor laws, and by changing the competition from large companies. In the end, all of these proved that the reformers turned out to be very successful in bringing reform to a national level. Along with these issues that the progressives tried to stop competition, they also fought many groups that tried to eliminate social classes along the way. Progressives were able to be successful in restoring economic competition, making the government more efficient, and stemming the tide of socialism.
Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, wrote this novel to unveil the atrocious working conditions and the contaminated meat in meat-packing workhouses. It was pathos that enabled his book to horrify hundreds of people and to encourage them to take a stand against these meat-packing companies. To obtain the awareness of people, he incorporated a descriptive style to his writing. Ample amounts of imagery, including active verbs, abstract and tangible nouns, and precise adjectives compelled readers to be appalled. Durham, the leading Chicago meat packer, was illustrated, “having piles of meat... handfuls of dried dung of rats...rivers of hot blood, and carloads of moist flesh, and soap caldrons, craters of hell.” ( Sinclair 139). His description
The word “muckraker” can be defined differently depending on the circumstances. However, if the story harms more people than it benefits, journalists begin to fit into Roosevelt’s definition of the word. You should not be a journalist if you are going to be focusing on trivial things. By accepting the idea that being a muckraker is not honorable, you will not only improve society, but you will also improve your own individual life by ending hate and false accusations on a daily basis. If everyone disagrees with the idea of muckraking, the world will be on its way to becoming a better place.
The Progressive movement was based mainly on the improvement of human nature and businesses were treating many workers badly. Many muckrakers worked to end the terrible conditions that many workers were going through at the time. These muckrakers also exposed how dangerous it was to work in a factory and how child labor was used (u-s-history.com). Attacking this, many muckrakers used the power of journalism to document and expose the terrible working conditions at the time (u-s-history.com). Numerous businesses at the time exploited labor and the fact that the government barely regulated the markets, angering Progressive reformers (eagleton.rutgers.edu). In some cases, businesses would create monopolies or even trusts to eliminate competition. However progressive reformers were successful in passing the Clayton Anti-Trust Act along with the Federal Trade Commission Act (Gongol). These acts allowed for stricter government regulation of business practices, and set rules on international trade and proper, legal business practices (Gongol). The rise in both industrialization and cheap labor helped to create powerful companies, of which then formed trusts together to eliminate competition. (eagl...
...te the flawed example of muckraking by The Jungle, the main reason for the use of muckraking was and still is an effective way of revealing the corruption of politics and businesses. Although The Jungle may not have served Sinclair purposes for social reform, it brought reform to the way food is handled. Without the enlightening view of the meat-packing business, even if false, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act may never have been created. We still see examples of muckraking today from Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me to magazines like People, Time, Cosmopolitan, and National Geographic. Muckraking is one of the few ways that the average person can find out about information quickly and easily. In certain cases, it even connects the nations together in order to fight a common enemy, whether it is political, social, natural, or supernatural.
In today’s light, the Progressive Era is seen as a time period where people’s lives changed for the better, but none of that change would have been possible without muckrakers exposing the numerous problems that lied hidden from the American public. With the corruption of government officials, dangerous and unhealthy working conditions for young children, and poverty-ridden slums in cities, this article aims to expose three of the most prominent problems of the Progressive Era.
Consider the downfall of Richard Nixon. After a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the 1970s, president Nixon attempted to cover up his administration’s involvement with the burglars. After Nixon destroyed evidence and resisted congressional jurisdiction, his actions were uncovered by muckrakers in the greatest political scandal in White House history. The Watergate scandal shocked the American people, and Nixon resigned from the presidency after his role in the conspiracy came to light. By cracking the president’s deceit wide open, the journalists who brought down Nixon shaped history. Nixon was held accountable for his actions, which, in turn, left his administration’s faults uncovered. Muckrakers fostered the removal of a corrupt president and stifled future political misconduct. Without muckrakers monitoring the conduct of public officials, governmental malfeasance is allowed to thrive. Ultimately, muckraking is crucial to checking political
Child labor has been around for hundreds of years. “Children of poor and working-class families had worked for centuries before industrialization” (Tuttle 1). Before children were needed in factories they worked on family farms tending the fields or animals, as time went on families moved from farms to the cities where children were still required to work. Children worked for numerous reasons some were that their parents couldn’t work so the responsibilities were passed to the children; others included the simple need for more money to feed the entire family. Large businesses welcomed the increasing number of child workers, for the business it meant cheap labor and cheap laborers that could be replaced easily. The exact number of child workers is unknown and has been estimated as stated in multiple articles such as this, “By 1900 over two million children, mostly immigrant children under the age of sixteen, were employed” (Wagner 1). Parents wanted their children to work as soon as possible so they could get as much income as possible, parents often did illegal things to get their children to work, “Boy’s parents often presented a fake birth certificate with an altered date o...