The muckrakers signified much about the nature of the progressive reform movement because they
a. counted on drastic political change to fight social wrongs.
b. thrived on publicity rather than social change.
c. believed that the cure for the ills of American democracy lay in less democracy and more government control.
d. sought not to overthrow capitalism but to cleanse it with democratic controls.
e. refused to look beyond middle-class concerns.
Answer: D