How Is Thomas Jefferson Affected By The Muckrakers?

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Our Citizens may be deceived for a while, and have been deceived; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light”. Although Jefferson was well before the muckrakers era of influence, he had the ability to recognize the flaws in social, economic, and political aspects of American life. Jefferson was one of the first men to become conscious of these injustices, but he was not the only one. A group, widely known as “the muckrakers” developed the same realization as Jefferson. They were among the first people to articulate a spirit of reform through directing the public to social, economic, and political injustices prevailing around them. The muckrakers, all of them crusading journalists, took advantage of the freedom of press and formed a commitment to expose scandals and injustices to the American public in order to establish reforms.
Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and America’s third president, knew the importance of press and the beneficial contribution that the press and the circulating media had on the American political system and social issues. In Jefferson’s quote above, he acknowledges that American citizens have been deceived before, mainly through lack of press coverage. Over time, the printed press began to increase in
For example, Tarbell's manipulation of the freedom of press aided in decreasing corruption and increasing public knowledge on corruption to develop reforms. On the other hand, Carson’s application of the freedom of press spawned an environmental concern resulting in a prohibition of certain pesticides and an increase in regulation of chemicals. Tarbell and Carson are two among the numerous muckrakers who decided to spur a movement through exposing corruption and