In the early twentieth century, magazines played a major role in awakening the social consciousness of the American people, especially those of the middle class. During this time, there was a group of people that were called “Muckrakers”. This group consisted of magazine journalists, photographers and writers, who became known for their investigative journalism. These Muckrakers created a movement in which they exposed to the nation, the widespread corruption that was brought on by the growth of the industrial revolution. This movement “merged into the Progressive Party” and ran “almost parallel to Theodore Roosevelt ‘s term as President of the United States.” They uncovered many undesirable things caused by industrialization, including the …show more content…
The Muckrakers became experts at evoking the emotions of their readers. Many of them implemented exaggeration and fiction into their stories to paint a more vivid picture to the public. Although some parts of the stories were untrue, the reforms that were brought about because of them were very real. They were able to make an impact socially, economically and politically in the United States.
The works of the muckrakers spoke volumes in creating reform for the social welfare of American society. Perhaps, one of the most significant muckrakers of this time was Upton Sinclair, a member of a Socialist Party, who wrote a book called “The Jungle”. The book depicted the horrible, unhygienic conditions and the struggles in which the laborers of the Chicago meat packing industry had to deal with. In the story, Sinclair talks about the laborers having to work in a damp, dark place, where “tuberculosis might live for two years”, their hands going numb from working so long and even their fingers being eaten away by acid. Sinclair’s intention was to draw attention to the plight of immigrant workers. However, the imagery about how the food was prepared was …show more content…
Party bosses, who were people that were rewarded with political appointment for essentially buying their supporters, were very popular in this time. These bosses were crooked and their actions were illustrated in Lincoln Steffen’s book, “The Shame of the Cities”. He believed that the party bosses had “betrayed his own ideals; he believed in the code of loyalty, but he was not loyal to the community.” Steffen’s book was the reason why we now have city commissioners and city manager system. The implementation was to limit the corruption of these party bosses and to create checks and balance on a local level; a city manager is to report to the city council. While Lincoln’s was a bit broader in his approach, Thomas Nast, wrote specifically about the political corruption of Boss Tweed who led Tammany