How did Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” Impact the
Meat Factories during the Progressive Age?
During the late 1800s and early 1900s a new stage in the United States began, called the Progressive Era. Over the years, America developed into an industrial working country although, like every country the social and economical problems were becoming an issue. Those who were on top were corrupted and vile while those who did the majority of the work took long hours and low pay. Most who worked complained and began to create movements and boycott the products produced. During the time though some tried to change the ways of these corrupt industries. Many risked their lives in seeking the truth and finding what was true beyond the neatly packaged lies
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He wanted others to see poor conditions these workers had to indur to gain a very little amount of money. “ "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach," he spoke. What Upton Sinclair described better than the working conditions or obstacles that millions of immigrants faced to produce money was, the meat that was being shipped out from Chicago to the people who were sitting and reading the book. Sinclair did not begin to write about socialism out of the blue though. He struggled to publish his books and thought about writing about socialism. He then was paid to write about the meat-packing industry. Sinclair focus on “Packingtown”. Chicago was the center of the meat packing industry. Upton took day and night to research the slums and working conditions the poor worked in. He had a thoughtful plot on what the book would be about. After many months of writing his book was published. Much of the population began to take interest in the book. Many were outraged and horrified over the description of the meat packing industry. They looked more closely on the fact that rat infested meat was churned and put into sausages that would later would be set on the table to be fed to people. Many movement were created and pursued to the congress that laws or acts must be pushed to change the gruesome meat production. The voice was heard. Theodore Roosevelt was …show more content…
Although there had to have been an obligation before to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act. Professor Harvey Washington Wiley wanted to take action and stop the production of the misinterpretation of real medicine. He lead a campaign wanting to end this dilemma, by using propaganda and research he wanted to influence others to take action and react to the lies that were being filled and distributed in bottles of medicine. Even though Wiley presented all of his information, Sinclairs profounding novel was what finally brought the Food and Drug Act to a realization. The Pure Food and Drug Act was a law set up to stop the marketing of ambiguous medicine or medicine that was deteriorated, became hazardous to the people. It also qualified to manufactured goods that were being distributed by factories in which were described in novel. Besides the Pure Food and Drug Act there had also been the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This action lead to the inspection of the animals in which if they were to consist of any epidemic or infection, it would be unapproved to manufacture. This brought a vast significance to United States for their was a change in the manufacturing and distribution of meats and
Nowadays many people in the world are sensitive to how animals are treated in the meat packing industry. The reason the sensitivity is as widespread as it is now is thanks to Sinclair's vivid imagery he uses to capture the reader's attention and sympathy. The methods the packers used to kill the animals can be described as cruel and disgusting. "There was a long line of hogs, with squeals and life-blood ebbing away together, until at last each started again, and vanished with a splash into a huge vat of boiling water"(37). The cruelty of slaughtering the animals within the book, affects the visitors who witness the killings.
Sinclair worked undercover in a meatpacking plant to gather information firsthand, before he began writing the book. Its influence on the labor practices and regulations governing the food industry cannot be understated. It tackles subjects as varied as the poor living conditions of the immigrants, exploitation of cheap labor by industrialists, and the unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking plants and stockyards of Chicago. The descriptions of the disgusting processes that were conducted in the meatpacking plants made for shocking reading and turned the book into a bestseller. The President Teddy Roosevelt ordered an investigation into the lack of sanitation in meatpacking plants and caused the creation of legislation governing the food industry in the form of the Food and Drugs Act of 1906.
Ariel Ortiz Mr. Martinez September 30, 2014 The Jungle The Jungle by Upton Sinclair caused quite a stir in the United States. This book opened the eyes of so many to what laborers were going through during that day and age. Throughout the novel, he was trying to illustrate problems that were going on during that period of time.
Written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, The Jungle is a novel meant to describe the social and political situation of the time, having as a basis his undercover investigation in a meatpacking plant in Chicago, for the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason. The story, set in the Chicago of the time, describes the life of a group of immigrants that, persuaded by the idea of the American Dream, embarked themselves in the most important journey of their lives. In the city, they would have to overcome the many challenges that an industrial city holds, such as the meatpacking industry, that sells spoiled meat, and oppresses workers, having to work long hours for a minimum wage. The book soon became one of the most influential books of its time. It turned
Sinclair was a socialist and was presented with an offer to expose the meat packing industry by a fellow socialist, he accepted the offer. The Jungle projects love, crime, and hardship while Sinclair upholds the deal to expose the meatpacking industry. Chicago, during the industrialization is the setting of this particular novel. Two immigrants from Luthainia
Sinclair went to Chicago to research the strike and the conditions suffered by the workers in the meat-packing industry. He interviewed the workers and their families as well as their relatives, doctors, and others. He personally observed the appalling conditions inside the meat-packing plants. His research during this process ended up be the basis for the book.
During the years 1880-1920 there were many issues because of urbanization and industrialization. The industrial revolution brought many new job opportunities with low wages making companies focus on women and children. These opportunities were available but at a cost, they were paid less and they were forced to work up to ten hours. The industrial giants made labor a tough and unfair lifestyle. They wanted more riches, but they were making people suffer in order to obtain the money.
As Sinclair’s words filled the air and became a topic of discussion the FDA took action and placed regulations in 1906 the Bureau passed the Federal Food and Drugs
The book mentions and involves the meat packing industry many times. A big part of the story is meant to talk about the horrible conditions about the meatpacking industry but it’s not the whole story. The main character does start to work in the meatpacking industry but it’s not the whole story. The book is about the hardships of a poor immigrant family in Chicago and about every other poor person having hard times in the country. Upton Sinclair is showing the horrendous ways that people had to live in his days, the way people manipulated each other, stole, tricked, ripped off.
That same day, The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was created. This act required the makers of prepared food and medicine to host government inspection as well. Overall, these acts have now been a reassurance to the public that meat and other things are in good
Intro: When people eat food they do not think about what is in it, or how it is made. The only thing people care about is what the food tastes like and how much they get. During the 1900’s the meat packing industry had not regulations of any kind. All that mattered to the industry was that they made as much money as possible with as little expenditure as possible. During this times people were often made sick and died either from working conditions or poor food quality.
The “Progressive Movement was an early-20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunity, and to correct injustices in American life.” (Danzer R54). The Progressive Era marked the end of the “Gilded Ages” and a start of a new era. The Progressive Era started in 1901 in the United States (Fagnilli 26). There were many major reforms in the Progressive Era that altered and advanced American society.
Many times, workers didn’t have time to have a social life outside of work. Sinclair writes, “There are able-bodied men here who work from early morning until late at night, in ice-cold cellars with a quarter of an inch of water on the floor-men who for six or seven months in the year never see the sunlight from Sunday afternoon till the next Sunday morning” (Sinclair 13). Although these are extreme examples presented by the author, it shows us that they were real issues dealt with at the time. Along with long hours, pay for the workers was almost unlivable.
However, readers at the time were not very concerned about the petty immigrants living on the lower rung of society. Rather, they cared about what affected them most: the condition of the meat they were eating-- and had been eating-- for years, that were produced by some of the very factories mentioned in Sinclair’s novel. For the majority of The Jungle’s readers, the fact that poor immigrants were being exploited was not bothersome. Instead, the fact that the food that readers had been eating for years contained the power to kill them seemed shocking, pushing the nation into a worried frenzy. Readers were disgusted by the facts they were reading, catalyzing the creation of administrations like the FDA.
Change takes places everywhere, everyday. If we as humans experience change on a daily basis, it should be no surprise that even “The Land of the Free” must eventually evolve. A Fierce Discontent by Yale alumni Indiana University historian and Michael McGerr documents this change that spread throughout America, which is known as the Progressive Movement. Michael McGerr believed that “the people and struggles of that age of “fierce discontent” a century ago still command our attention” (McGerr, xiii), which sheds a little light as to why he chose to write about the Progressive Era. It was social and political reform and activism that made up the Progressive Era and