1
Brandon Briseno Jimenez
20 April 2025
Echoes of Debs
In the early 1900s, Eugene V. Debs was seen as a radical for demanding fair treatment for
workers, questioning war, and promoting socialist values. Now over a century later, America still
faces labor strikes, economic inequality, and political division that echoes the Gilded and
Progressive Eras Debs fought against. From Amazon warehouse walkouts to debates over free
speech and protest, the struggles that Debs faced haven’t disappeared, they’ve simply evollved.
By examining Debs’ life and comparing it to today’s movements, we better understand how
America continues to wrestle with power, fairness, and the fight for more open minded society.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the United States went through a time called the Gilded
Age and Progressive Era. During this time, rich busness owners got richer while workers were
treated badly working long hours for little pay in unsafe conditions. Eugene V. Debs became a
leader who spoke up for workers. He first got attention during the Pullman Strike of 1894, when
railroad workers across the country protested unfair wages and layoffs. The government sent
troops to stop the strike, and Debs was arrested. While in jail, he realized how unfair the system
really was and became a socialist. He believed the rich had too much power and that regular
people needed more control over their lives and jobs. Debs ran for president five times to spread
these ideas, and during one campaign in 1920, he ran from prison. He was arrested for giving a
speech against World War I, which the government saw as unpatriotic. According to The New
Yorker, “Debs saw the working class as a sleeping giant, waiting to be awakened into political
2
action”​. (Lepore) His point during the progressive era was that workers deserved better and that
the country needed real change. That same fight for fairness and justice is still happening today.
Debs wasn’t the only person fighting for change during the progressive era. Muckrakers,
which are journalists, helped by exposing problems in big businesses, politics, and everyday life.
Writers like Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle, showed the terrible conditions in
meatpacking factories. His work led to public outrage and new food safety laws. (Denby)
Another muckraker, Ida Tarbell, wrote about the unfair ways that powerful companies like
Standard Oil crushed smaller businesses. (“The History of the Standard Oil Company”) These
people used their words to wake people up, just like Debs used speeches to inspire workers. Even
thought Debs was a political leader and the muckrakers were journalists, they were all trying to
show Americans the same thing, that the system was broken. In The New Yorker article, it says
that Debs “was not a bomb-throwing radical but a patient educator,” (Lepore ) which shows how
his goal was to teach people what was really going on​. Just like the muckrakers, he believed that
change would come from informing and empowering regular people. Their work helped create
important reforms in labor, food safety, and government, and it showed the power of speaking
out.
Even though Eugene V. Debs lived over 100 years ago, many of the problems he talked
about still exist today. Big companies still have a lot of power, and workers are still fighting for
better treatment. In recent years, there have been major labor movements, like the Starbucks and
Amazon union efforts, where employees are asking for higher pay, better conditions, and respect
at work. These workers are doing what Debs encouraged standing up against greedy
corporations. In The New Yorker, Debs believed “it is the working class that produces all wealth
3
and does not enjoy the fair share of it”​(Lepore). That idea still holds true to todays struggles,
where many people feel like they are being underpaid while the company execs earn millions.
And we also see political resistance around other issues, like free speech, protests, and voting
rights. Some people are even calling this time a “new Gilded Age” because of the huge gap
between the rich and everyone else. The same way muckrakers used journalism to expose
corruption, people today are using social media, news outlets, and organizing to bring attention
to unfairness. Just like in Debs’ time, change is happening when regular people raise their voices
and demand better.
Eugene Debs stood for fairness, equality, and the idea that regular people should have
power, not just the rich and powerful. During the gilded and progresive eras, he fought for
workers and spoke out against injustice no matter what. Muckrakers like Upton Sinclair and Ida
Tarbell supported similar goals by exposing corruption and unsafe working conditions. Today,
we see those same fights happening again through union movements, protests, and people calling
out unfair systems. Debs message still matters because the problems he spoke about never fully
went away. His life reminds us that real change takes courage, and that speaking up, even when
it’s unpopular, is one of the most powerful things we can do.
4
Works Cited
Denby, David. “Upton Sinclair's Losses and Triumphs.” The New Yorker, 20 August 2006,
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/08/28/uppie-redux?utm_source=. Accessed
22 April 2025.
“The History of the Standard Oil Company.” Wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Standard_Oil_Company? Accessed 22
April 2025.
Lepore, Jill. “Eugene V. Debs and the Endurance of Socialism.” The New Yorker. Accessed 22
April 2024.