The Progressive News
The news you want - the way you want it
Wednesday, November 21, 1917
You are a muckraker, an investigative journalist; who uses words and pictures to expose a problem that needed to be
fixed.
You have been asked by your newspaper to create a series of pictures with captions, highlighting what is was like before
and after the problems of Big Business, Immigration and Urbanization were exposed and fixed. You will be assigned
muckrakers to write about.
Before the Fix:
- Big Business, banks and trusts had a great deal of
power
- Monopolies were starting to form
- Labor laws were inexistent.
After the Fix:
- The Federal Reserve System was created to end
banking and business monopolies
Louis D. Brandeis
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Corruption in the
government and the banking system
Solution:
Was a lawyer. He wrote
then published a book
called, Other People's
Money suggesting that
big business and banks
shouldn't have so much
power. He also fought
agains railroad
monopolies and for
peoples' right. He became
a Supreme Court Judge.
President Theodore Roosevelt
Before the Fix:
- Companies like Northern Security Company
controlled rail lines.
- Monopolies ran smaller companies out of
business.
After the Fix:
- Northern Security Company and other
monopolies were broken down into smaller
companies.
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: The unfair monopolies and
trusts.
Solution:
Roosevelt used the
Sherman Anti-Trust
Act to sue companies
to break down
monopolies
Before the Fix:
-There were tenements in the cities Sanitation and living conditions were terrible
-Garbage and horse manure lined the streets
Jacob Riis
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Slums and terrible conditions
in tenements
Solution:
He took pictures of
the tenements to bring
attention to the
terrible slums and
published a book
called How the Other
Half Lives.
After the Fix:
-Housing codes were established
-Parks and playgrounds were set up for people to use
Before the Fix:
-Captains like Rockefeller had driven competitors
out of business
-After companies went bankrupt, he'd raise prices to
get more money
After the Fix:
-Standard Oil and other major trusts were
broken into multiple companies
Before the Fix:
-Workers had 10-12 hour work days -People could
be fired at random -There were low wages and long
hours
-Factories were unsafe, unhealthy, and noisy
After the Fix:
-Skilled workers gained the right to bargain
collectively, or have representatives fight for
benefits for all
-There were better working conditions for
laborers
Ida Tarbell
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Unfair monopoly business
practices of Standard Oil
Solution:
Tarbell told
journalists about the
secret deals that
Rockefeller made
with railroads to ship
oil at lower prices.
Samuel Gompers
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Working conditions in
factories
Solution:
Gompers created the
American Federation
of Labor, a strong
labor unions to press
for better wages and
safer working
conditions.
Before the Fix:
-Alcohol abuse caused violence,
poverty, and unemployment.
After the Fix:
-The 18th Amendment made it
illegal to make, transport, or sell
alcohol
Before the Fix:
-Women did not have equal
educational opportunities -Women
did not have voting rights
Carrie Nation
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Stop the sale and Solution:
consumption of alcohol
Solution:
Nation went from
praying outside
taverns to
destroying them to
protest alcohol use.
Susan B. Anthony
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Women not having the
right to vote.
Solution:
Anthony traveled
from town to town,
speaking for women's
rights.
After the Fix:
-Women eventually had more
educational rights -The passing of the
19th Amendment gave women the
right to vote
Before the Fix:
-There was a lot of political corruption -Political
bosses, like Boss Tweed, controlled political machines
-These political machines controlled police, courts,
newspapers, etc.
-They illegally took money
After the Fix:
-Boss Tweed was convicted of many of crimes and
sent to prison
Thomas Nast
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Slums and terrible
conditions in tenements
Solution:
Used political
cartoons to expose
Boss Tweed in
Harper's Weekly
Before the Fix:
-Children were working in factories for low pay They were operating heavy machinery
-Some were abused at their jobs
-They could easily be injured or killed
Lewis Hine
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Child Labor in factories and
in the coal mines.
Solution:
Used photographs to
educate people about
the cruelties of child
labor.
After the Fix:
The NCLC (National Committee on Child Labor)
presented its case to federal government officials
-They created stricter child labor laws
Before the Fix:
-Immigrants did not speak English They could not find/keep jobs -They
lived in slums and tenements -They did
not have an education
Jane Addams
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Problems facing immigrants
Solution:
Addams set up Hull
House, a settlement
house used to help
immigrants in
Chicago.
After the Fix:
Immigrants had employment
services, day care, kindergarten, art
classes, etc.
Before the Fix:
-There was a lot of racism in America, particularly in
the South
-Jim Crow laws segregated schools, trains, parks, and
other public places
-African Americans were barred from voting in many
states
After the Fix:
-The NAACP remained a force in the efforts to gain
legal and economic equality for African Americans
W.E.B. DuBois
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Problems facing African
Americans
Solution:
He was an activist
who created the
NAACP to help fight
for equal rights.
Before the Fix:
Workers did not wear gloves or hair nets which was
unsanitary
- When food fell on the floor, workers would pick it
up and still package it to sell.
- Rats and insects ran around the factories and often
made it into the meat supply
After the Fix:
- Workers now wear gloves and hair nets to protect
the food from contamination.
- Any meat that falls on the floor goes into the trash.
- Factories are inspected to make sure they are clean
and safe.
Upton Sinclair
Exposed and Wanted to Fix: Exposed the gruesome
conditions in the Meat-packing industry
Solution:
He wrote a book
called The Jungle,
describing the
horrible conditions in
the meat packing
industry.