Muckrakers

Muckrakers existed during the late 18th century and the early 19th century. These are the individuals who uncovered the ugly truth of issues like tenement living and meatpacking. Their primary goals were to reveal a certain problem to the public and then try to eliminate it. Some of the well-known muckrakers were Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Jacob Riis. These are a few people who attempted to change America during the Progressive Era. They unveiled things that were unknown to any man. This essay explores some of the influential muckrakers and their significance in the progressive era.

Reporters who uncovered the bad side of issues that no one could recognize were also referred to as muckrakers. They could find something bad in a society and thus inform the public about it. After informing people, they thought a change could be inevitable since America could progress more. Ida Tarbell focused on the history of the Standard Oil Company. According to Ida, the oil business was an unfair one. Upton Sinclair wrote about The Jungle. His story contained the meat-packing industry as well as some horrible things that took place in the industry. The book highlighted the poverty that factory workers experienced. In addition, there were also corrupt practices in the meat-packing industry. Due to the public outcry, the government had to regulate the industry. Theodore, who was the president during that time, read the story and took some immediate actions on the issue. All industries were demanded to put labels of what was in their products.

Jacob Riis was also a muckraker who notified the public about tenement living. He explained to people how the packaging of the tenements was done. He also talked about the issue of overcrowding in London. Riis’ main objective was to make the public aware of what was happening, and what individuals experienced. Muckrakers were significant people who aimed at achieving change in America. Most muckraker articles took a serious nature. Magazine editors would go deeper to check facts as reported in their publications.

Exposing the truth was the ideal objective of the muckrakers. They were influential people especially during the progressive era. They uncovered truth about the hidden issues and informed the public. They were a big step towards reform in Progressive era. If muckrakers never existed, the public would have been in darkness. They would not be aware of the things that were ongoing. Notably, America would also be different today.