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How Did Ida Tarbell Affect The World

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“Not a word about that misguided woman… If I step on that worm I will call attention to it, … if I ignore it, it will disappear.”(Treckel) These words were spoken by, none other than, John D. Rockefeller concerning Ida Tarbell. Here he refers to her as a worm and calls her an “it.” Rockefeller believes that if he ignores her writing that she will just simply go away. She doesn’t. And because of her persistent writing on the issue of his standard oil trust in The History of the Standard Oil Company, Ida destroys one of the “world’s greatest philanthropist(s)” (Treckel). Ida Tarbell was one of the most influential muckrakers of the Progressive Era, who took down John Rockefeller and made a lasting impression on the world by doing so. Ida Minerva Tarbell was born in the tiny village of Hatch Hollow, Erie County, Pennsylvania. During her childhood, her family was left devastated when the …show more content…

As pronounced best by Mr. McClure (the owner of McClure’s Magazine), “You are today the most generally famous woman in America” (Genisheimer). Ida Tarbell helped strengthen the government’s case against John Rockefeller’s company as well as other oil companies with her journalism. In November of 1906, the United States federal government charged many oil monopolies and trusts with violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. A company called the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and its many trustees were found guilty of constructing trusts and monopolies (which were prohibited under law). She eventually helped return competition to business in America (Treckel). But, the two-volume work did much more than just become prevalent and encourage America to do something about trusts and trust owners; it paralyzed the man she criticized with fear. America’s first billionaire slept with a gun and had security with him while he preached on Sundays (he was a pastor of a church were he lived) (Coffey

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