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Overview

The Muckrakers were American novelists and journalists who exposed
the corruption in business and government during the early 20th century. Teddy Roosevelt coined the term
muckrakers in a 1906 speech where he criticized the methods in which the journalists accumulated their information.
Magazines such as McClure's, Cosmopolian, Collier's, Everybody's, paid for inclusive investigating and promoted contentious
writing  to arouse interest from the public.  The papers were widely available and the scandalous topics of the papers made
them highly successful. Large corporations who abused their worker's rights had reports written about them and the muckrakers
publicized them.  Civil rights, child labor, and injustices that occurred in the senate were all issues pushed to the forefront of the
public eye, and scrutinized.  Some of the more notable muckrakers were Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, and Ray Stannard baker.

Raking The Muck

Ida Tarbell is most remembered for her investigative
reports published in McClure’s magazine. In 1904 she
published History of the Standard Oil Company, which
documented the ruthlessness that John Rockefeller
exhibited in crushing his competition during his rise
to the top. This was just her most famous work, she
also revealed the corruption in politics as well as
business.
Upton Sinclair fought the social injustices with works
of his own. His most popular, The Jungle, was a novel
that showed the harsh realities in the Chicago
stockyards. This novel spurred many to protest and
Federal food inspection laws were passed in reform. He
wrote against capitalism as well and even created his
own socialist society which eventually failed.
Ray Stannard Baker , also a writer for McClure’s,
published his influential, Following the Color Line,
which covered the jarring statistics of the poor
situations in which blacks resided.  He also wrote a
great deal about peace in covering Woodrow Wilson.

Importance in history

The general significance of all their works and
efforts were that they created reforms simply by
revealing the truth. Although there was some outrage
(mostly by those on the receiving end of the
muckraker’s havoc), the muckrakers were beneficial to
establishing some sort of authority for those who
abuse their power. Issues such as child labor, social
and civil rights, large monopolies, and problems in
government were all attacked by these muckrakers which
ended up benefiting those without voices, even though
some of them just wanted to sell papers. The
progressive reform movement stimulated by the
muckrakers eventually died with the beginning of WW1
when the public demands were overshadowed by an event
of greater importance. The muckrakers contributions to
the progressive era were key in establishing reforms
and existing as a temporary solution to the flaws in
American democracy.