USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In several cases, muckrakers became activists themselves and spent years speaking throughout the country about their work and the need for reform. The term muckraking was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, describing the crusading journalists who wrote stories in late nineteenth-century publications.

Detailed explanation-2: -A muckraker was any of a group of American writers identified with pre-World War I reform and exposé writing. The muckrakers provided detailed, accurate journalistic accounts of the political and economic corruption and social hardships caused by the power of big business in a rapidly industrializing United States.

Detailed explanation-3: -Other muckraking writers included Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair, and Frank Norris. Steffens documented corruption in city government in his book, The Shame of the Cities. Upton Sinclair investigated and exposed horrid conditions at meatpacking plants in his book, The Jungle.

Detailed explanation-4: -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.