Question

How did the "Muckraker" Ida Tarbell describe Standard Oil?
A. She presented evidence about unethical business practices.
B. She argued that its business practices helped consumers.
C. She defended its purchases of smaller companies.
D. She argued that other companies should follow its business practices.

Answer 1

A) She presented evidence about unethical business practices.

Answer 2

The correct answer is:

A. She presented evidence about unethical business practices.

In The History of the Standard Oil Company, published in 1904, Ida Tarbell exposed John D. Rockefeller’s practices by meticulously documenting the aggressive techniques Standard Oil employed to outdo and, where necessary, roll over whoever got in its way.

Attributable to Tarbell’s work is the Supreme Court decision in 1911 that found Standard Oil in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act as an illegal monopoly and ordered it broken into 34 separate companies.