Muckraker
Ida M Tarbell
Will Irwin
Upton Sinclair
David Graham
Phillips
Famous
Work/Event
The History of the
Standard Oil
Company
The American
Newspaper
The Jungle
The Treason of the
Senate
Subject
Description
Reforms
Initiated
Unfair practices of
monopolies
The work described how the oil
company made deals with the
railroad to ship their goods at rates
lower than the competitors. They
got away with this because of their
influence over Congress and
because of the amount of money
they had.
Anti-Trust Laws
(Sherman and
Clayton)
The influence of the
newspapers
A series of articles examining the
influence the media had on the
public and public opinion. They
were using articles to promote their
own agendas and not necessarily
reporting all of the facts.
The public
demanded fair
reporting or they
would not buy the
paper. Journalists
began reporting
facts only.
This work examined the working
conditions and unsanitary working
conditions of the meat packing
Meat Packing Industry industry. Abuses of the public trust
were revealed and people were
disgusted by what the company was
doing to make a profit.
This work described how the Senate
was doing what was best for the
Political Corruption
political bosses and corporations
instead of what was best for the
people.
Meat Inspection
Act
Pure Food and
Drug Act
17th Amendment
providing for the
direct election of
Senators
Jacob Riis
Lincoln Steffens
Edwin Markham
Frank Norris
How the Other Half
Lives
Tweed Days in Saint
Louis
Children in Bondage
The Octopus
Living conditions in
the slums
Described the deplorable conditions
endured by those living in the cities.
They had small, dark, unclean, and
unsanitary working conditions with
too many people living in a small
area.
Political Corruption
Described the corruption in Saint
Louis including, but not limited to,
bribery, intimidation, ballot box
stuffing, and violence to influence
elections.
Child Labor
Railroad Intimidation
Describe the reasons behind,
problems with, and cures for child
labor. He proposed better
education, protection of children’s
rights, and laws preventing the use
of child labor.
The Octopus was based on the real
life events of the Mussel Slough
Tragedy which was a dispute over
land titles between farmers and the
Southern Pacific Railroad. One of
the main ideas of his books were
about how the progress of
industrialization affected
agricultural society and how people
were suffering from the corporate
monopolies that were prospering at
the turn of the century.
Tenement House
Act – required
windows, fire
escapes, sanitary
toilet facilities
Power was
divided between
several people
instead of one
person. (CouncilManager System)
Child Labor laws
restricting the
hours a child can
work and what
industries they
can work in.
The breakup of
railroad
monopolies and
the reduction of
their influence.
William English
Walling
The Race Wars in the
Racism/Discrimination
North
Tried to address the unequal
opportunities between white and
black citizens and pushed for equal
treatment. Wanted to end the
practice of “slavery” where blacks
were still abused in the fields.
Creation of the
NAACP to fight
for the rights of
minorities.
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire –
What was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory?
It was a garment factory in New York.
Describe what happened to make this factory famous.
There were over 100 workers that died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling and jumping to their deaths. The deaths
were preventable because they were a result of neglected safety features. The fire escapes were so narrow that it would have
taken hours for all the workers to use it.
What reforms were initiated as a result of this event?
The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous sweatshop conditions of the factories and led to the
development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of workers. The Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention
Law and the New York State Labor Law (Article 6, Section 80) was passed after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.