Muckrakers During The Progressive Era

Directly after the end of World War II, the United States faced a time like no other—the Cold War. The fear of communism and the totalitarian Soviet Union grew rampant, and the possibility of an impending all-out nuclear war gripped American minds. During this time, the fear of a breach in national security heightened, and a loyalty review program in the government was introduced by President Truman. Soon, this practice crept into society, as everyday citizens undertook the responsibility of “policing” each other—determining each other’s loyalty, with suspicion constantly clouding one’s mind. Amidst this, American historian Henry Steele Commager, a product of the University of Chicago “…where he received his Ph.B. and M.A. in philosophy…and returned for his Ph.D.” ("Commager, Henry Steele”), stepped onto the scene to dispute the anti-communist crusade he noticed was running rampant in his nation. As noted by Neil Jumonville, a professor at Florida State University, Commager a well-known partaker in discussing political and social events such as World War II and the New Deal, it wasn’t uncommon for Commager to show “…unmistakable activist traits well before any of [the events] occurred” (Jumonville “The Origin of Henry Steele Commager 's Activist Ideas”).

The Kent State Massacre involved many university student protesters and Ohio National Guard troops on May 4, 1970. The outcome of the Kent State Massacre ended with four tragic death and nine permanently paralyzed university students. The conflict between the student protesters and the National Guards became an iconic eye-opening symbol for America. It led America to reflect and see how divided we were as a nation.

The story of the Little Rock Nine takes place in the Spring of 1957, and there were 517 African American students who lived in the Central High School District located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although, eighty students took an interest in accompanying Central during the fall semester. These African American students had the opportunity to be interviewed by the Little Rock School Board. Out of the results of the interview, seventeen of the eighty African American students were eligible to attend Central High School. As the Central High School fall semester began, only nine of the seventeen students decided to attend Central High School. The over eight remained at Horace Mann High School, an all-black high school. On September 25, 1957, nine African American students known as the “Little Rock Nine” attended Central High School.

In the Progressive Era, there were many problems that the American people faced. America was broken, unjust, and cruel during that era. The people became acocomuomed to the corruption, horrible living conditions,and terrible working and safety conditions. The vast number of problems; however, were solved by what we call-- muckrakers, who then with the help of others came to bring about a new laws.

The Progressive Era was a period of time, from 1890 to 1920, that people start believing that the society problem could be faded by providing a safe environment, good education and an efficient workplace. The people who wanted changes in the society were called Progressives. Most of them were well educated, journalist, they went to college. There were a lot of problems that people tried to fix them or improve them, most of them were fixed but other we are still trying to fix them. During this period there were a lot of issues and problems but there were some prominent ones, like: Women Suffrage, Temperance or Food and Health.

The film, Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is put to the test. During the Supreme Court case of Brown Vs The Board of Education, many people fought for schools to end segregation of the students. This means that black and white students would attend the same schools together. The Supreme Court case made its final decision and made it illegal to segregate students. Central High School was the school that let black students in first. The NAACP let in 9 black students at Little Rock and they were called the Little Rock Nine. Even though many people fought to not have them there, President Eisenhower fought to keep them there. This led to an uproar from the community and a lot of violence. At one point the governor even has to call out the national guard and the students had to be escorted to class by police. By the end of the film, only one black student is left to graduate

The party was formed in 1912 by the urban middle class, who were displeased with all of the corruption in politics. This party was very successful at achieving what the Populists could not. They succeeded at getting laws passed to restrain immigration, set up a postal savings banks, limiting work days to eight-hours, and set up an initiative, referendum, and recall. The Progressives also had several amendments passed, the sixteenth, allowing for the graduated income tax, the seventeen, enforcing the direct primary that was passed by the Populists, the eighteenth, staring the prohibition on alcohol, and the nineteenth, allowing everyone to vote regardless of their gender. Much of the Progressives success was due to muckrakers. Muckrakers were people that became upset by politics and wanted to expose the corruption to America. Famous muckrakers included, Ida Tarbell, Jacob Riis, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair, who is the author of The Jungle, a book about the unsanitary conditions in meatpacking plants, leading to food regulations and ultimately the establishment of the FDA, which is very

Ida Tarbell became one of the most influential muckrakers of the Gilded age. Ida Tarbell was born in 1857 in western Pennsylvania 's oil region. Her town of Titusville and encompassing territories in the oil river valley had been created into a prosperous industry.Then suddenly this town received a detrimental blow. That blow originated from the South Improvement Company, an enterprise established in 1871 and generally viewed as an exertion by Rockefeller and Standard Oil in Ohio to control the oil and gas ventures in that district.The three top railroads that ran through Cleveland agreed to raise their shipping fees while paying rebates to Rockefeller .Small oil refiners were hurt from these brutal tactics and Ida decided to write “ The History Of Standard Oil Company” which exposed these harsh business practices

The progressive era which lasted from 1890-1920 in American society was the institution of radical reforms brought about by the millions of Americans involved in volunteer organizations across the country. During this time Americans worked to create solutions to the problems caused by the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the country. The progressive era was not a single movement, but rather a collection of movements all of which were intended to improve the lives of Americans. This was a truly remarkable time for women and the end of the era would see almost universal women’s suffrage with the passing of the nineteenth amendment in 1920.

The Progressive Era was a time period of American history beginning with efforts at reform lasting from the 1890’s through the 1920’s, during World War I. Those years after the war marked the era of political transformation where progressive concepts of effectiveness and knowledge guided the government’s decision making. This brought many people and crowds to address politics with contradicting ambitions. By the end of World War I, political concerns changed and many leaders of the progressive era passed from the political stage by mid-1920.

The Gilded Age was an era that transformed from agrarian to industrialized working/businesses and goods. The Gilded Age soon came after Reconstruction and lasted from the late 1860’s to the late 1890’s. During the Gilded Age there were many businessmen that were labeled Robber Barons or Captains of Industry based on their actions of ruthlessness and monopoly or their actions of generosity and kindness. A Robber Baron is a businessman who obtained wealth through cruel manors. A Captain of Industry is a business leader who obtained wealth through positive and generous ways that had a good impact on those around them. History should remember the entrepreneurs of the 1800’s and 1900’s as Captains of Industries or Robber Barons. These entrepreneurs

Civil rights, political and social freedom and equality, something many African Americans had to fight for. There were boycotts, sit-ins, teach-ins, freedom riders and many other events where people took a stand and stood their ground, but the one that really caught the attention of others was the Little Rock Nine. All the different situations where people were fighting against Jim Crow Laws started with something that was most likely over equality. These students were all about fighting for an equal education, and believed they should be taught in the same room, with the same lessons, and with the same teachers as any other white student.

Several industrialists had a major impact on the Gilded Age. These industrialists were Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Gram Bell.

Ida Tarbell (1857-1944) was a teacher, biographer, author and editor as well as a pioneer of investigative journalism. She became famous for her serialized political biographies on figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) in McClure 's (1894-1904) and American Magazine (1906-1915) as well as for her reports on the corporate monopoly of John D. Rockefeller 's (1839-1937) business practices in The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904). Her reports on Rockefeller 's business are considered seminal works of investigative journalism, and they led to the dissolution of the Standard Oil Corporation and resulted in President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) labelling newspaper reporters like Tarbell as muckrakers. Despite being an accomplished woman who was considered pre-eminent in her field and a seminal part of the growing woman 's movement in her time, Tarbell was also known for advocating an anti-suffrage position,

This paper will be discussing how the Vietnam war and Kent state shooting tie together and how it affected lives afterwards. The Kent State Shooting on May 4, 1970 was a culmination of the anti war movement because Four Kent state students were killed protesting the invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam war.