How Did Ida Tarbell Changed American History?

It all began on November 5th 1875, Ida Tarbell was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Even as a kid she was exposed to the oil industry, her father had his own company. With her amazing work she changed the course of American history by using a magazine. If Ida did not do what she did America would still have monopolies who ran industries. As a women it was even harder to have people listen to you in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, they were believed to be not equal to men. Ida changed American history, without her we could very easily still be living in a world run by wealthy men who take advantage of the citizens. Since a young Ida Tarbell was exposed to the corruption of oil companies. Her father owned an oil company during the

Rockefeller was the most successful human being in this time period, he owned The Standard Oil Company. His company was destroying all other oil companies, he was living the life everyone dreams of. This is all before Ida Tarbell was able to put her word in. Ida moved to Paris after a few years after college, there she joined to the McClure’s Magazine company. This is where her popularity begun. She first wrote about Abraham Lincoln, and Napoleon Bonaparte(Biography.com). After that she began to write about the corruption of the Standard Oil Company, from then John D. Rockefeller lived in fear. On top of her writing articles she went and got all the information, she invented investigative journalism. This means she investigated her topics rather than read books about it. Her most famous article was called History of Standard Oil Company this was later turned into a book. In this book she writes “So long as the Standard Oil Company can control transportation as it does to-day, it will remain master of the oil industry, and the people of the United States will pay for their indifference and folly. . . .”(Tarbell). After years of battling the Standard Oil Company they were brought to the supreme court and in 1911 The Standard Oil Company was shut down because it was under violation of the Sherman Antitrust

During this time period women were seen to be housewife, and not to have a professional especially not a male profession. Ida Tarbell went against the odd, she followed her dreams, blocked out the people who doubted her because she was a women. She wasn't done there thought, not only did she have a male job at the time she was one of the best at it, she took down one of the biggest industries all on her own. In one of her articles she explains that Rockefeller company is only benefiting himself and put everyone else at a disadvantage, her exact words are “Yet Mr. Rocke-feller has systematically played with loaded dice, and it is doubtful if there has ever been a time since 1872 when he has run a race with a competitor and started fair. Business played in this way loses all its sportsmanlike qualities. It is fit only for tricksters.”(Tarbell). When you look at Ida Tarbell and what she did you can see a relation with her and Hillary Clinton. They both went against the odds, the only difference is Hillary is a politician. In a male dominated profession she has been able to win elections and have her word heard. Although she failed to win the 2016 presidential she has won many other elections. Even when she wasn't in office for anything she still wasn't afraid to express her opinions on topics, which is what Ida did. Also Ida’s father owned a oil company so she witness