Fitzpatrick, Ed., Muckraking - Three Landmark Articles,

Abstract

I get nervous each semester when the American history survey course reaches the Progressive era. Few topics are more confusing to undergraduates than the variety of reform efforts that historians characterize as Progressivism. Frustrated by the diverse backgrounds, motivations, and agendas of reformers, students in self defense often reduce the Progressive movement to a lifeless list of the "accomplishments" of prominent individuals from Woodrow Wilson to "Golden Rule" Jones. Progressivism becomes a catalog devoid of passion.