Uptown Sinclair's The Jungle

In early 1900, specifically, 1906, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written. This novel told the story of a Lithuanian immigrant who worked in a filthy Chicago meatpacking plant. It exposed the meatpacking industry by stating their vile practices not only towards their meat but their workers as well. This was a result of the combination of many immigrants in the United States to pursue a better life, and the fact that many big industries were looking for ways to maximize their profit.

Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tension in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through his novel “The Jungle”. He used the story of a Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, to show the harsh situation that immigrants had to face in the United States, the unsanitary and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking plants, as well as the tension between the capitalism and socialism in the United States during the early 1900s.

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. Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food.

The Progressive era was a period of widespread activism and political reform across the United States, from the 1900s to 1920s. The goal was to end abuse of power (monopolies, unfair privilege and corruption), and to replace corrupt power with humane institutions, apply scientific principles and efficient management to economic, social, and political institutions. Through the Progressive Era they were able to create the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Amendment. The 16th Amendment allowed income tax, the 17th Amendment allowed the direct election of senators, the 18th Amendment allowed prohibition (prohibition is the manufacturing and sale of alcohol, especially in the US between 1920 and 1933), and the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.

In meat packing plants, workers are focused on getting money and don 't really care about the product. They store meat in old warehouses that have bad roofs. When it rains water falls on the meat a sits there until... who knows when. The warehouses are infested with rats so the meat gets mixed with rat feces. Meat plant workers just put any scraps in a can and call it "chicken" or "beef". This is very wrong. The meat gets mixed in huge vats, if a worker falls in, guess what. There body gets mixed with the food and gets shipped off to stores. If meat falls on the floor, they don 't through it away. Oh no, that would be wasting and they would be losing money. So they just ship dirty meat out for people to buy and eat. Meat plant workers are senseless. The meat packing plants are so unsanitary its just gross. With all of these factors, I believe the meat packing industry should get the rest of my

everyday got more difficult as the days went on. In the meat packing business things were

The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair was an expose on the life of those who lived in Packingtown, Chicago. Packingtown was where most of the people who was looking for work lived, it was a very crowded city. Job openings were scarce and most of the jobs were very unsafe. Most of the people in this part of town were poor, so they did not really have much doubts of food,. The Jungle exposed the horrific work conditions, the poor food quality, and the deceitfulness of the business owners.

When Upton Sinclair wrote the Jungle, a book about the terrible environment of the meat-packing factories in Chicago, he hoped to motivate reform in immigrant working conditions and promote socialism. Instead, what shocked readers the most was the sordid surroundings in which their future meals were prepared. Sinclair 's audience saw these conditions as a threat to themselves, and that energized reform in the meat-packing industry. What scared audiences the most was how real this threat was to their lives. As can be witnessed in the results of Sinclair 's crusade, the most effective propaganda is that which rouses the visceral survival instinct. Donald Trump, a notorious real estate mogul, is running for president on a platform that started

Several problems are revealed in the Industrialization Period through Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. One of them is the the things that go on behind the walls of the food industry. The conditions here during this time were particularly awful in several ways and for many reasons. Some troubles that surface during this time in the meat packing plants are the use of spoiled, dirty or rotten meat, poor wages for the workers there and the conditions of the working area.

As big business owners like Rockefeller and Carnegie kept getting richer, the people that worked in the factories kept falling further into poverty. A lot of these people were immigrant factory workers, usually working in a factory owned by some business giant. And, the rich blamed the poor for being in poverty “The opportunity to get rich, to attain great wealth is here... You have no right to be poor, it is your duty to be rich... Let us remember, there is not a poor person in the United States who was not made poor by his own shortcomings...” (Document A) These rich businessmen also hated the idea of unions, and even insulted them because they wanted to extend hours with less pay, the opposite of what the unions wanted. An example of one of these businessmen insulting the unions was Henry Clay Frick, president of Carnegie Steel in 1892 who said “...I will never recognize the union, never, never” (Document D) These problems still aren’t fully solved today, there are still wealthy business owners that blame the poor for being poor, and dislike labor

People were forced to consume contaminated food especially meat on a daily basis. This gave birth to many diseases such as food poisoning and liver failure. They did not have any other options because there were no laws prohibiting the sale of spoiled food. Soon enough, in 1906, Federal Food and Drug Act was passed. One of the key things this act did was embargoing the sale of any food or drug which has been adulterated or misbranded (4). It also had relatively severe punishments for not abiding by the law. It states, “ any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each offense shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not to exceed five hundred dollars or shall be sentenced to one year's imprisonment, both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, and for each subsequent offense and conviction thereof shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars or sentenced to one year's imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.” (4). This made sure shops and restaurants raised their standards and double check the quality of food they’re supplying to the customers. On the other hand, the book “Jungle” claims that there was no difference between regular and ‘premium’ meat since they came out of the same batch (5). Fortunately, this claim no longer remains effective, due to the passing of the

In the Progressive Era, there were many problems that the American people faced. America was broken, unjust, and cruel during that era. The people became acocomuomed to the corruption, horrible living conditions,and terrible working and safety conditions. The vast number of problems; however, were solved by what we call-- muckrakers, who then with the help of others came to bring about a new laws.

Upton Sinclair reflects the reality of the people during the late 1800’s in his novel The Jungle. In his novel, Sinclair wants to promote Socialism by showing how people lived in the meatpacking plant and under a corrupt government. The inhuman working conditions, combined with the lack of hygiene and a corrupt government, made trying to make a living a total hardships for the low class and the immigrants.

Chapter 7 of Fast Food Nation discussed the starting of meatpacking industry and its downfalls. At first, Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) used the same principle as McDonald’s principle to make fast foods. IBP hired unskilled workers just to do simple and repeated work all day. However, competition with other companies made IBP low wages and health insurance options. This caused slaughterhouses to move West to gain cheap labor and land. As stated in the text, “The relentless low-cost competition from IBP presented old-line Chicago meatpackers with a stark choice: go west or go out of business” (pg.155). Speaker claimed that there were two choices either going to the west or go out of business. Logically, companies would not give up their business.

The 19th century was the era of the Gilded Age, where the economy was booming, bringing great changes that affected the lives of workers and entrepreneurs. During this period, there was a large influx of immigrants that were coming to America to look for job opportunities. The migration of immigrants proved useful as a source for cheap labor, allowing an even higher rise in the U.S. economy. While American industrialization may have benefited the upper class of the American society, the effects were opposite to the workers of the lower classes. This problem was especially worse for immigrant workers as their belief in the so-called American dream has been worn down due to the misery they had to endure. Immigrant workers were limited of their freedom and constantly exploited due to the fact that they were working in hazardous working conditions, were living in deplorable conditions, and were being harassed under the intimidating power of corrupt politicians.