Muckrakers
Investigative
journalists who
highlight
corruption,
abuse, or unsafe
conditions in
industry, society,
or politics and
call for reform.
Jacob Riis
How the Other Half Lives
(1890)
Photographed poor crime, overcrowding, poor
living conditions in New York City
Upton Sinclair
The Jungle
(1906)
•Exposed for working conditions,
exploitation of immigrant workers,
and unsanitary conditions in
Chicago’s Meat Packing Industry.
•Meat Inspection Act (1906)
•Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
Lincoln Steffens
The Shame of the Cities
(1904)
•Exposed Corruption of Political
Machines
•Spurred need for electoral
reform… many states adopted
secret ballots, initiative,
referendum, and recall measures
David Graham Phillips
Treason of the Senate
(1906)
•Criticized influence of big
business on Senators
•Reform: Passage of 17th
Amendment, which changed
from election by state
legislatures to direct
election of Senators
Ida Tarbell
The History of the Standard
Oil Company (1904)
•Exposed unfair business practices
such as “rebates” used by
Rockefeller’s Oil Trust to put small
companies out of business
•Lead to passage of more Anti-Trust
Legislation
•Hepburn Act (1906)
•Mann-Elkins Act (1910)
•Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)