Tag Archives: working conditions

During the progressive era, Upton Sinclair’s novel had a tremendous impact on history. However, Foner briefly speaks of Sinclair in his book. Sinclair was a journalist for the muckrakers, in which the group of reporters investigate various social issues and publish their findings for the public.

Sinclair, in an effort to discover the issues of the meat packing industry, disguises himself as a worker. He later publishes his findings in “The Jungle,” in which he shows the various dangers of working in the meat packing factory. Some of the dangers people faced in working in the meat industry was the possibility of losing part of their hand eventually. For instance, losing your thumb from cutting meat products for an extended period of time or receiving various cut wounds were various types of common injury. Other dangers include contracting a disease from working in dirty/poorly circulated rooms and mutilations of the hand from various types of contact with toxic chemicals.

Other violations of the meat packing industry include food preparations, in which workers process food to cover up the smell of rotting food and mixing various waste parts of an animal. Due to Sinclair’s book, it has publicized the horrors and violations of working in the meat packing industry. This is important because is creates an awareness of the working conditions, which soon lead to laws regulating work conditions, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

The link below is an excerpt from the book “The Jungle.”

http://college.cengage.com/history/us/resources/students/primary/meat.htm

Below is a video giving a better idea of the working conditions Sinclair encountered at his time.

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