The Jungle
In “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, the facts were not candied and exposed the disgusting practices that the meat packing industry participates in. There are 2 aspects in this book excerpt: the workers and the process of providing meats to the shelves. “There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage” (Sinclair). 2 points to be made from the quote. One is their working condition is so poor that they don’t have a sink to wash their hands. Using water that seems stagnant since it would be ladled into the sausage may lead to sickness if the workers are handling raw meats as only the first person may have somewhat clean hands as they contaminate the bin for others. The second part of this quote uses a byproduct, the water from washing their hands, to be ladled into the sausage. Despite the fact consumers would have to cook the sausage for consumption, this is very unsanitary. The 2nd mind-boggling fact is how the workers revitalize the meat if they’ve gone past its expiration date or went bad during processing. They “… would rub it up with soda to take away the smell” (Sinclair). Not only is this detrimental to one’s health, but it’s also fraudulent activity as it may be portrayed as fresh meat when altered. Because these atrocities were exposed, we now have laws such as the Meat Inspection Act and Hygiene regulations to prevent this from happening again.
The Great Strike
In “The Great Strike,” Harper’s Weekly, August 11, 1877, the government aligns itself with capitalistic interest, causing strikes known as The Great Strike. This was all because the Railroad had already cut the workers’ wages twice; hence, the third time was too much, and workers had to take it into their own hands. Because of the corrupt actions of the Railroad companies, an 11-day strike would ensue, leading to the death of many, loss of millions of dollars, and paralyzation of industries. To quell the protests, “President HAYES responded promptly, issuing a proclamation ordering the rioters to disperse. (“”The Great Strike,” Harper’s Weekly, August 11, 1877.”)” This action from the President shows that in times of trouble, they would side with big corporations and resort to force. This isn’t a democratic way of solving the issue for the people, which means the president fails to do what’s best for the majority.
The Problem Solved
Not only are the working class struggling to fight against the robber barons for reasonable working conditions and wages, but they also fight against other immigrants who may take their jobs. In this political cartoon, we see an Irish immigrant swallowing the head of Uncle Sam and a Chinese Immigrant swallowing Uncle Sam from the feet up. In the second part of the cartoon, we see that they’re getting close to finishing Uncle Sam off. And lastly, we see that the Chinese Immigrant swallows the Irish Immigrant. This political cartoon depicts how there is an overflow of Chinese Immigrants migrating to the US and taking away jobs from other immigrants because they can be paid less per hour. To stifle the imbalance, anti-immigration laws were passed to prevent unskilled and skilled Chinese immigrants from entering the US for cheap labor.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a horrific incident that killed “a total of 141 people, predominantly girls aged 16 to 23…”(“Cornell University – ILR School.”). The building was believed to be fireproof, but it became a deadly trap as there were few to zero proper fire escapes. Some doors were locked as the managers believed it would prevent theft, but this only increased the death toll. People ended up jumping from the building, only to end up dying as they plummeted to the pavement. Because of this incident, building safety and working conditions were slightly better to prevent another catastrophe.