Muckrakers

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

11

Overview

This informational material from Khan Academy gives an overview of muckrakers. Muckrakers were journalists and novelists of the Progressive Era who sought to expose corruption in big business and government. The work of muckrakers influenced the passage of key legislation that strengthened protections for workers and consumers. Some of the most famous muckrakers were women, including Ida Tarbell and Ida B. Wells. This article can be used to introduce muckrakers or as an assessment.  The article includes questions at the end. 

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 11 - United States History II

SS10.US2.2

Evaluate social and political origins, accomplishments, and limitations of Progressivism. [A.1.a., A.1.b., A.1.c., A.1.d., A.1.e., A.1.f., A.1.i., A.1.k.]

UP:SS10.US2.2

Vocabulary

  • textual evidence
  • evaluate
  • cite
  • Progressivism
  • muckraker
  • trust
  • antitrust
  • suffrage
  • temperance movement
  • civil rights
  • trust-busting
  • conservation

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The social, economic, and political origins, accomplishments, and limitations of the Progressive.
  • The impact of the Populist Movement on the role of the federal government in American society.
  • The impact of muckrakers on public opinion during the Progressive movement, including Upton Sinclair, Jacob A. Riis, and Ida M. Tarbell.
  • The influence and impact of social movements, including: women's suffrage, temperance movement, and civil rights for African-Americans.
  • The influence of specific social groups and influential individuals on the Progressive Era, including: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the Niagara Movement, the National *Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Carter G. Woodson.
  • National legislation affecting the Progressive movement, including the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act.
  • The significance of the public education movement initiated by Horace Mann.
  • The impact of the presidential leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson in obtaining passage of measures regarding trust-busting, the Hepburn Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Act, and conservation.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Effectively evaluate the complexities, origins, limitations, accomplishments and affects of social and political movements such as the Progressive and Populist Movements.
  • Evaluate the influence of prominent individuals and groups from specific historical time periods on public opinion, social and political movements, and national legislation.
  • Explain national legislation that was influence by and that affected social and political movements.
  • Assess the significance of the public education movement initiated by Horace Mann.
  • Compare the presidential leadership during specific historical periods.
  • Analyze primary and secondary historical sources.
  • Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were political, economic, and social origins, accomplishments, and limitations of the Progressive Era and these have impacted American society through the present.

CR Resource Type

Informational Material

Resource Provider

Khan Academy

License Type

Custom

Accessibility

Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings
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