Who authored A History of Standard Oil?

• A. Ida Tarbell
• B. Lincoln Steffens
• C. Upton Sinclair
• D. Jacob Riis

Answer: (A)

This question tests knowledge of a muckraking journalist who exposed monopolistic abuses during the Progressive Era. A History of Standard Oil was written by Ida Tarbell, whose investigative reporting for McClure’s Magazine dissected how John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil used rebates, ruthless tactics, and secret deals to crush competitors and dominate the oil industry. Tarbell’s meticulous documentation helped shift public opinion in favor of stronger antitrust action and contributed to the eventual breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, along with broader calls for regulators to curb corporate power. The other writers mentioned are known for exposing different reform issues: Lincoln Steffens uncovered urban political corruption, Upton Sinclair highlighted the abuses in the meatpacking industry, and Jacob Riis photographed and described tenement life. But the work that specifically examines Standard Oil is Tarbell’s.