Beginning Of Meat Packing Industry

NEGATIVE
This was the beginning of the Meat Packing Industry, it started in 1900.  These companies were known as treating workers as wage slaves. Befpre Henery Ford, these workers started a meat packing assembly line."Major meat-packing corporations began to buy slaughter companies in the United States. They were so large that companies could dictate prices to cattle ranchers, consumers, and feed growers.

Upton Sinclair's Goal

·   NEGATIVE

""I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”  Upton Sinclair wrote the book to better the working conditions for the people, but instead it made sure the meat was safe to eat.

Appeal to Reason

POSITIVE
Upton Sinclair began to write for a socialist magazine, his article was called appeal to reason. This is the original reason he learned about the meat packing industry. This article inspired him to write more about the topics, concluding his book, The Jungle.

The Food Drug Act

POSITIVE
The same day the Meat Inspection Act was passed, Roosevelt passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. This was the first consumer protection law. This act forbade the manufacture, transportation, and sale of poisonous patent medicines and altered food products. This law is now known as the FDA. 

Meat Inspection Act

POSITIVE
After the book was published, Roosevelt passed a law called the Meat Inspection Act. This enabled inspectors to stop any adulterer and misbranded meat. It also prevented the meat from being produced in unsanitary conditions. This way meat products being sold as food was safe. 

The Jungle

POSITIVE
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written in 1906. This was a book about the meat packing industry. Upton Sinclair hung around Chicago for 7 weeks and learned all the insights of the industry. His book opened the eyes of many people, even the then current president, Theodore Roosevelt. This book disgusted just about everyone who read it. Two Laws where passed shortly after this book was published.

The Start of the Progressive Era

POSITIVE
The begin of the progressive era was known as the turn of the century. It was made to better and reform   the problems of the Gilded Age. It also consisted of social and business reforms. The social reforms improved a person's life such as healthcare and education. Business reforms ranged from improving the conditions for workers to cleaning up the way a business was run to ensure it is being fair to the public.

Timeline

http://www.dipity.com/thejungle/The-Jungle/

Overview: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

The industrial revolution had a dramatic effect on economic and social life. The economy shifted from agricultural to manufacturing and from rural to urban. Soon people were flocking to the cities in search for jobs and a new life. Although factories weren’t what they were made out to be, working conditions were unsafe and wages were low. Upton Sinclair published a book called The Jungle about the meat pecking industry. The conditions were miserable, dead and diseased animals were cut up and sold as meat. Sinclair spent 7 weeks in Chicago by the factories and studied the lives of people at home and at work. It was mortifying to see the people were treated like the animals. Men who were diseased were tossed to the side while the unemployed fought to replace. Some men had their fingers chewed off by the acid. When the book was published people urged the congress to pass the “Meat Inspection Act of 1906.” He aimed for the public’s heart and hit it in the stomach; Sinclair meant to help the condition of the workers not the animals.

Define: Progressive Era

The Progressive era was from 1890-1920. Occurred in the United States, it was a period of social activism and political reformation due to the rapid It grew from a social movement into a political movement. They rejected Social Darwism and believed good education and a safe environment could solve violence, racism, poverty, and greed. Progressivism had increased violence when Roosevelt was elected for president. Progressivism ended with World War I.