His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. Get an answer for in upton sinclairs the jungle, how did the meat packing industry treat meat that smelled bad. The jungle exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry. Human rights abuses in united states meat packing industry. As our meat, pork and poultry supply dwindles, we should. Achievements in public health, 1999 publication of this novel lead to many new views on the food production industry including. Gary younge on why upton sinclairs 1906 novel the jungle caused uproar in the us meatpacking industry. The book helped change national regulations on food preparation. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the united states. Constitutional rights foundation bill of rights in action fall 2008 volume 24, no. In preparation for the writing of the jungle, sinclair visited chicago meatpacking plants disguised as a worker in order to experience at first hand the brutal working conditions and the contamination of the meat products for. Children as young as three were often employed and forced to work long hours sometimes 1215 hour days for very little.
That is why the setting is the most essential part of the story. Excerpt and questions about upton sinclairs muckraking novel the jungle. Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry today 2817 words 12 pages. What industry was the focus in the book the jungle answers. The meatpacking industry denied everything, but investigators dispatched by thenpresident theodore roosevelt after he read the jungle found that, as the president relayed, the chicago stock yards are revolting. At the beginning of the 20th century the american people created great change in. Trump turns back the clock in americas meat plants the. Recently i had a chance to sit down and talk to upton sinclair to talk about his renowned book the jungle. The jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and socialist journalist upton sinclair. This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of byproducts including hides, feathers, dried blood, and, through the process of. Muckraking articles and novels helped to call the publics attention to the industry s horrific practices. His goal in writing this book was to show the world the real meat packing industry. It was written about the corruption of the american meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. Sparknotes is here for you weve got everything you need to ace or teach.
The meat inspection act of 1906 courtnay mccarter, auburndale high school american history, 11th grade and above directions. Sinclairs grotesque descriptions of conditions and procedures in the meatpacking plant led to subsequent reforms in food safety regulation. Utterly disturbing, centuryold photos of meatpacking. Gary younge on upton sinclairs 1906 novel the jungle. The following question is based on the accompanying documents 1 through 7. Get an answer for what did the jungle reveal about the meatpacking industry.
Slaughterhouse is the first book of its kind to explore the impact that unprecedented changes in the meatpacking industry over the last twentyfive yearsparticularly industry consolidation, increased line speeds, and deregulationhave had on workers, animals, and consumers. Its not anywhere near as horrible as the world muckraker upton sinclair surveyed 100 years ago in his sensational book the jungle. The jungle of meatpacking regulation after a century roger i. Who wrote the book the jungle about the meatpacking industry. It contrasts the corruption of the meatpacking industry with the appalling conditions and daytoday hopelessness the lower classes work and live in. As a result, the government would step in and pass legislation that protected consumers from. The jungle, a 1906 novel by upton sinclair, is full of graphic descriptions of the poor conditions workers and cattle endured in the chicago meatpacking industry. In 1906, the muckraking journalist upton sinclair published his expose of the meatpacking industry in chicago, the jungle. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the jungle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. The jungle was actually about immigrant labor abuses. It takes its story up to the collapse of union power in the late 1980s. About two years ago in 1906 this book made headlines about the meatpacking industry and their unhealthy and unsanitary situation. After you look at these images of meatpacking facilities from early last century, youll understand why social reformer upton sinclair wrote his great 1906 novel the jungle about workers.
Food safety when the jungle was published, american citizens were outraged. The outrage that the book caused has often been singled out as the main reason for the passage of legislation to protect consumers. A harrowing portrait of an immigrants oppressive life in. Sinclairs book was so moving and troubling that it inspired the establishment of the food and drug administration, a federal agency that is to this day responsible for regulating and supervising the food, tobacco, dietary supplement, and pharmaceutical industries in the u. Marija sees an advertisement that offers home furnishings on an installment plan, and the family decides to sign up. This book shocked americans, to see the conditions under which these workers lived. This is a tragic story about a lithuanian family led by a man named jurgis and their trials in packingtowns meat packing industry. Upon publication, after 5 rejections the jungle became an instant best seller and has never gone out of.
The book focuses on four meatpacking centers crucial to the upwa and the industry. Sinclair put the family in the worst possible city they could be. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the. This is a quick book summary of the jungle by upton sinclair. I was reading the document and realised that the in the past meatpacking industry of the united states was so unhygienic and unorganized.
Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclair. The meat inspection act of 1906 united states was passed after years of reports on the unsafe and unsanitary practices of the meatpacking industry. The act authorized the secretary of agriculture to inspect all meat products shipped in interstate commerce. The meatpacking industry during the early 1900s was unsanitary, unregulated and incredibly dangerous work. The meat packing industry started in the early 1900s. They move into their new house, with jurgis carrying their belongings the 2plusmile distance to their house. President teddy roosevelt supposedly threw his breakfast sausages out a window after reading upton sinclairs book the jungle, which exposed corruption and abuses in the meatpacking industry. In upton sinclairs the jungle, how did the meat packing. Dangers, tensions lurk in meatpacking industry nbc news. The book the jungle written by upton sinclair focuses on the meat packing industry and the hardships and obstacles the immigrants faced. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the united states in chicago and similar industrialized cities. The jungle, muckrakers, and teddy roosevelt nehedsitement.
The culmination of his work was the passage in 1906 of the meat inspection act, enshrined in history, or at least in history books, as a sacred cow excuse the pun of the interventionist state. Chicago, kansas city, sioux city, and austin, minnesota. A law passed in 1906, after congress reaction to upton sinclairs vivid description of the meat packing industry in chicago with his novel, the jungle. Industrial unionism in the meatpacking industry home. The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. This book had an amazing impact as it publicly exposed the realization of the horrendous work and unsanitary conditions in the meat packing industry that lead to the passage of the pure food and drug act of 1906. Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry. Congress had already been in the process for 27 years of trying to pass food protection laws, but until the jungle was published, it was going slow and chances. It crated such chaos that even president theodore roosevelt took great notice of it. The jungle by upton sinclair book summary minute book. Sinclairs novel, the jungle 1906, based on his newspaper reporting, exposed the inner workings of the meat packing industry.
Some of the documents have been edited for use with the document based question. One could not stand and watch very long without being philosophical, without. How does the description of devyled ham in the jungle by. In 1906 upton sinclair released the book the jungle that provided a scathing look into the meat packing industry in america. Four histories of how unions were established in each of the four cities mentioned above. Novel by upton sinclair about an immigrant lithuanian family in chicago and the corrupt meatpacking industry date. Trump turns back the clock in americas meat plants more than a century after upton sinclairs gruesome the jungle, the president is loosening rules. Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry today 2817 words 12 pages meatpacking pertains to the raising, slaughtering, packaging and processing of livestock such as pigs. Sinclair wanted readers to focus on the setting of the jungle. Upton sinclairs book awakened a nation not just to the dangers in the food supply, but to the central role government has to play in keeping it safe. Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry today 2817 words 12 pages meatpacking pertains to the raising, slaughtering, packaging and processing of livestock such as pigs, cows, and chickens. They use everything about the hog except the squeal. Yet very little of the jungle has to do with unsanitary meatpacking practices. Explanation of the famous quotes in the jungle, including all important speeches, comments, quotations, and monologues.
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