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Review
Review
00:20
Genially
I can analyze the impact of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle on public awareness of unsafe food manufacturing practices and explain how this led to the development of food safety laws like the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act during the Progressive Era. I can identify key Progressive Era reforms and explain how they addressed social, political, and economic problems in the United States, such as working conditions, child labor, and women's rights.
Learning targets:
Think about it:
Think about it:
What do you think food manufacturing was like before there were rules to keep food safe?
What do you think food manufacturing was like before there were rules to keep food safe?
Mulberry Street, New York City, c. 1900, Library of Congress
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what is an entire book worth- especially if it is an exposé?
Click on the underlined word to learn what it means & how to say it!
Knowledge check
Knowledge check
00:35
Knowledge check
Knowledge check
00:35
Could you make it as a Muckraker?
Could you make it as a Muckraker?
When Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906, he meant to open America’s eyes to the plight of workers in the filthy, dangerous Chicago stockyards. Instead, popular outrage focused on the wider-reaching threat of spoiled meat. Congress quickly passed the nation’s first legislation regulating the meat, food, and drug industries. Sinclair, disappointed by his failure to provoke more sympathy for the overworked, underpaid workers, noted “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
When Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906, he meant to open America’s eyes to the plight of workers in the filthy, dangerous Chicago stockyards. Instead, popular outrage focused on the wider-reaching threat of spoiled meat. Congress quickly passed the nation’s first legislation regulating the meat, food, and drug industries. Sinclair, disappointed by his failure to provoke more sympathy for the overworked, underpaid workers, noted “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
Excerpt from Chapter 14
Excerpt from Chapter 14
There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white—it would be dosed with borax [a white powder made from boric acid, used in detergents, flame retardants, and disinfectants] and glycerine [a chemical compound used in foods and medicines], and dumped into the hoppers [containers for mixing], and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit. . . . There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers [containers] together. This is no fairy story and no joke; the meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. 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. . . . Some of it they would make into “smoked” sausage—but as the smoking took time, and was therefore expensive, they would call upon their chemistry department, and preserve it with borax and color it with gelatine to make it brown. . . .
There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white—it would be dosed with borax [a white powder made from boric acid, used in detergents, flame retardants, and disinfectants] and glycerine [a chemical compound used in foods and medicines], and dumped into the hoppers [containers for mixing], and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit. . . . There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers [containers] together. This is no fairy story and no joke; the meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. 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. . . . Some of it they would make into “smoked” sausage—but as the smoking took time, and was therefore expensive, they would call upon their chemistry department, and preserve it with borax and color it with gelatine to make it brown. . . .
Listen to this excerpt here:
Muckraking by reformers like Upton Sinclair brought potentially dangerous food manufacturing practices to America's attention. Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed them into law. Taking effect in 1907, they required: sanitary conditions in factories, inspection of animals and meat, and correct labeling to prevent "adulturation" or misbranding.
Other Progressive Era
Muckrakers & Reformers
Muckrakers & Reformers
Other Progressive Era
Click on each image to learn more and complete your Progressive Era chart
Click on each image to learn more and complete your Progressive Era chart
Florence Kelley
The first woman factory inspector in the United States, appointed in Illinois by Governor John Peter Altgeld in 1893. A resident of Hull House, and a reformer – who refused to be associated with any political party – Florence Kelley lived in Chicago from 1891 until 1899, leading and participating in a variety of projects. These included: a wage and ethnicity census of the slums and tenements in Chicago; the reporting of cases and contagion in the smallpox epidemic of 1893; the enforcement of the universal primary education laws, and, most importantly, enforcing the provisions of the Illinois Factory Inspection Law of 1893.
This print shows the four stages of pork packing in nineteenth-century (1800s) Cincinnati. This centralization of production made meat-packing an innovative industry, one of great interest to industrialists of all ilks(a number of persons or things grouped together because they have something in common- like kinds).
The main plot of The Jungle follows Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus, who came to the United States in the hope of living the American dream, and his extended family, which includes Ona, Jurgis’s wife; Elzbieta, Ona’s stepmother; Elzbieta’s six children; Marija, Ona’s cousin; and Dede Rudkus, Jurgis’s father. They all live in a small area named Packingtown in Chicago. The title of Sinclair’s novel describes the savage nature of Packingtown. Jurgis and his family, hoping for opportunity, are instead thrown into a chaotic world that requires them to constantly struggle in order to survive. Packingtown is an urban jungle: savage, unforgiving, and unrelenting.
McClure's Magizing
Samuel Sidney McClure was a magazine publisher who created McClure’s Magazine in 1893. It became famous for its investigative journalism, known as muckraking, which exposed corruption in politics and business. The magazine featured work by well-known writers like Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair, who wrote about issues such as unfair business practices and poor living conditions. McClure's efforts helped spark the Progressive Era reforms in the United States, making him a key figure in journalism history.
About the author
Upton Sinclair was an American writer born on September 20, 1878, in Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his book The Jungle, published in 1906, which exposed the harsh conditions and unsanitary practices in the meatpacking industry. This book led to important changes in food safety laws. Sinclair was a muckraker, a journalist who wanted to reveal problems in society and push for reform. He wrote many other books and plays, often focusing on social issues like workers' rights and poverty. Sinclair’s work helped improve conditions for many people and showed how writing can make a big difference in the world. He passed away on November 25, 1968.
“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
The Meat Inspection Act, unlike the Pure Food and Drug Act, provided for inspection and approval before products went to market. Early meat inspection activities were documented in a photographic album, "the United States Government Inspection at the Meat Packing Establishments."
This photograph was taken by Lewis Hine, an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. Hine traveled the country taking pictures of children working in all types of industries: coal mines, meatpacking houses, textile mills, canneries, in the streets selling newspapers, and other places. The industrial boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s had caused an increased demand for labor. Children often worked to help support their families. By the early 1900s many Americans were demanding an end to child labor. In 1904 a group of progressive reformers founded the National Child Labor Committee and received a charter from Congress in 1907. It hired investigators to gather evidence of children working in harsh conditions, to try to abolish child labor.
The original caption for this image reads: Young Driver in Mine. Has been driving one year. 7 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. daily [at] Brown Mine, Brown W. Va. [West Virginia].
Political cartoons are drawings or pictures that make fun of, or give opinions about, important issues or events happening in the world. They are often found in newspapers or online. The cartoons use humor, symbols, and exaggeration to make a point or get people to think about something in a new way. Censorship happens when people in charge, like governments, decide to block or remove certain information from being shared with others. This can include books, articles, TV shows, and even political cartoons. When cartoons or information are censored, it means someone has decided that people shouldn’t see or hear about certain ideas, often because they think it’s dangerous or inappropriate. Here’s an example: Let’s say a political cartoon criticizes a government decision. If that government doesn’t like what’s being said, they might try to hide the cartoon from the public. That’s censorship.
Jane Addams was a social reformer and activist who founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889. Hull House was a community center that helped immigrants and the poor by offering education, childcare, and other services. Addams worked to improve living conditions for people in need and fought for women's rights, including the right to vote. She was one of the first women to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her efforts to promote peace and social justice.
Ketchup was one of the first successful processed foods. By 1900 there were over 100 different brands of this popular condiment. Made from fermented tomato cores and skins, canners added vinegar to flavor and preserve it and dyes to make it red. Because the resulting concoction was prone to explode, canners started adding benzoate of soda as a preservative. Henry Heinz proved ketchup could be made without benzoate in a clean factory using ripe tomatoes.
In this letter to President Roosevelt, author Upton Sinclair expresses his support for the presence of federal inspectors in the meat-packing houses. He advised that inspectors should come disguised as workingmen to discover the true conditions, as Sinclair did when he researched his book The Jungle. The Jungle riled up the United States and its President, Teddy Roosevelt, by revealing the unsanitary conditions under which food was made. On June 30, 1906, President Roosevelt signed into law the Pure Food and Drug Act, effectively creating the Food and Drug Administration. Roosevelt had read an advanced copy of The Jungle. But almost before he finished reading it—barely a week after its first publication—Sinclair was peppering the President with letters and recommendations on how to regulate the industry. Roosevelt was sympathetic to Sinclair’s desire to regulate the industry but despised the man’s zealotry. "Tell Sinclair to go home and let me run the country for a while," Roosevelt said. Still, the two shared a lunch at the White House and an extensive correspondence—possibly sharing more letters than any President with an author who wasn’t writing a biography. Sinclair’s passionate descriptions of the meatpacking industry, and Roosevelt’s pursuit of reform in the industry, led to the nation’s first consumer protection laws.
Ida B. Wells was an African American journalist and civil rights activist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She is best known for her courageous work exposing the injustice of lynching in the United States, using her writing to bring attention to the violence faced by Black Americans. Wells also fought for women’s rights and helped to found the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Her efforts made her a key figure in both the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements.
Julia Tutwiler
This Alabamian was a pioneer in the fields of education and prison reform in her home state. She worked to open doors to university education for women, and her efforts in organizing the Tuscaloosa Benevolent Association (TBA), through which civic-minded women could worked to reform conditions in Alabama jails and prisons resulting in major changes to the Alabama prison system, including separate facilities for men and women. Tuter poem, "Alabama," was put to music and became the state song.
Jacob Riis
An immigrant who used photography to expose the poor living conditions in New York City’s slums in the late 1800s. As a police reporter, he took pictures of overcrowded tenement buildings and the people living in poverty. His work, including his book How the Other Half Lives, helped people understand the hardships of the poor and pushed for reforms. Riis’s efforts led to real changes. In 1901, New York City passed the Tenement Act, which improved building safety and living conditions by enforcing new building codes. His work helped shape social reform and brought attention to the importance of better housing for all.
Progressive Era Reforms
Stephanie Brumberg
Created on September 17, 2024
6th grade lesson on Muckracker Upton Sinclair
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Transcript
Click here to start
How to navigate
How to navigate
Click here to return to the home page
Genially (Jean-ya-ly)is an interactive way to learn information about a topic. Follow these directions and make sure you always click on every interactive element before moving to the next page!
Click here for interactive elements
Click here to continue to the next page
Review
Review
00:20
Genially
I can analyze the impact of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle on public awareness of unsafe food manufacturing practices and explain how this led to the development of food safety laws like the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act during the Progressive Era. I can identify key Progressive Era reforms and explain how they addressed social, political, and economic problems in the United States, such as working conditions, child labor, and women's rights.
Learning targets:
Think about it:
Think about it:
What do you think food manufacturing was like before there were rules to keep food safe?
What do you think food manufacturing was like before there were rules to keep food safe?
Mulberry Street, New York City, c. 1900, Library of Congress
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what is an entire book worth- especially if it is an exposé?
Click on the underlined word to learn what it means & how to say it!
Knowledge check
Knowledge check
00:35
Knowledge check
Knowledge check
00:35
Could you make it as a Muckraker?
Could you make it as a Muckraker?
When Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906, he meant to open America’s eyes to the plight of workers in the filthy, dangerous Chicago stockyards. Instead, popular outrage focused on the wider-reaching threat of spoiled meat. Congress quickly passed the nation’s first legislation regulating the meat, food, and drug industries. Sinclair, disappointed by his failure to provoke more sympathy for the overworked, underpaid workers, noted “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
When Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906, he meant to open America’s eyes to the plight of workers in the filthy, dangerous Chicago stockyards. Instead, popular outrage focused on the wider-reaching threat of spoiled meat. Congress quickly passed the nation’s first legislation regulating the meat, food, and drug industries. Sinclair, disappointed by his failure to provoke more sympathy for the overworked, underpaid workers, noted “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
Excerpt from Chapter 14
Excerpt from Chapter 14
There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white—it would be dosed with borax [a white powder made from boric acid, used in detergents, flame retardants, and disinfectants] and glycerine [a chemical compound used in foods and medicines], and dumped into the hoppers [containers for mixing], and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit. . . . There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers [containers] together. This is no fairy story and no joke; the meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. 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. . . . Some of it they would make into “smoked” sausage—but as the smoking took time, and was therefore expensive, they would call upon their chemistry department, and preserve it with borax and color it with gelatine to make it brown. . . .
There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white—it would be dosed with borax [a white powder made from boric acid, used in detergents, flame retardants, and disinfectants] and glycerine [a chemical compound used in foods and medicines], and dumped into the hoppers [containers for mixing], and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit. . . . There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers [containers] together. This is no fairy story and no joke; the meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. 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. . . . Some of it they would make into “smoked” sausage—but as the smoking took time, and was therefore expensive, they would call upon their chemistry department, and preserve it with borax and color it with gelatine to make it brown. . . .
Listen to this excerpt here:
Muckraking by reformers like Upton Sinclair brought potentially dangerous food manufacturing practices to America's attention. Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed them into law. Taking effect in 1907, they required: sanitary conditions in factories, inspection of animals and meat, and correct labeling to prevent "adulturation" or misbranding.
Other Progressive Era
Muckrakers & Reformers
Muckrakers & Reformers
Other Progressive Era
Click on each image to learn more and complete your Progressive Era chart
Click on each image to learn more and complete your Progressive Era chart
Florence Kelley
The first woman factory inspector in the United States, appointed in Illinois by Governor John Peter Altgeld in 1893. A resident of Hull House, and a reformer – who refused to be associated with any political party – Florence Kelley lived in Chicago from 1891 until 1899, leading and participating in a variety of projects. These included: a wage and ethnicity census of the slums and tenements in Chicago; the reporting of cases and contagion in the smallpox epidemic of 1893; the enforcement of the universal primary education laws, and, most importantly, enforcing the provisions of the Illinois Factory Inspection Law of 1893.
This print shows the four stages of pork packing in nineteenth-century (1800s) Cincinnati. This centralization of production made meat-packing an innovative industry, one of great interest to industrialists of all ilks(a number of persons or things grouped together because they have something in common- like kinds).
The main plot of The Jungle follows Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus, who came to the United States in the hope of living the American dream, and his extended family, which includes Ona, Jurgis’s wife; Elzbieta, Ona’s stepmother; Elzbieta’s six children; Marija, Ona’s cousin; and Dede Rudkus, Jurgis’s father. They all live in a small area named Packingtown in Chicago. The title of Sinclair’s novel describes the savage nature of Packingtown. Jurgis and his family, hoping for opportunity, are instead thrown into a chaotic world that requires them to constantly struggle in order to survive. Packingtown is an urban jungle: savage, unforgiving, and unrelenting.
McClure's Magizing
Samuel Sidney McClure was a magazine publisher who created McClure’s Magazine in 1893. It became famous for its investigative journalism, known as muckraking, which exposed corruption in politics and business. The magazine featured work by well-known writers like Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair, who wrote about issues such as unfair business practices and poor living conditions. McClure's efforts helped spark the Progressive Era reforms in the United States, making him a key figure in journalism history.
About the author
Upton Sinclair was an American writer born on September 20, 1878, in Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his book The Jungle, published in 1906, which exposed the harsh conditions and unsanitary practices in the meatpacking industry. This book led to important changes in food safety laws. Sinclair was a muckraker, a journalist who wanted to reveal problems in society and push for reform. He wrote many other books and plays, often focusing on social issues like workers' rights and poverty. Sinclair’s work helped improve conditions for many people and showed how writing can make a big difference in the world. He passed away on November 25, 1968.
“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
The Meat Inspection Act, unlike the Pure Food and Drug Act, provided for inspection and approval before products went to market. Early meat inspection activities were documented in a photographic album, "the United States Government Inspection at the Meat Packing Establishments."
This photograph was taken by Lewis Hine, an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. Hine traveled the country taking pictures of children working in all types of industries: coal mines, meatpacking houses, textile mills, canneries, in the streets selling newspapers, and other places. The industrial boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s had caused an increased demand for labor. Children often worked to help support their families. By the early 1900s many Americans were demanding an end to child labor. In 1904 a group of progressive reformers founded the National Child Labor Committee and received a charter from Congress in 1907. It hired investigators to gather evidence of children working in harsh conditions, to try to abolish child labor.
The original caption for this image reads: Young Driver in Mine. Has been driving one year. 7 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. daily [at] Brown Mine, Brown W. Va. [West Virginia].
Political cartoons are drawings or pictures that make fun of, or give opinions about, important issues or events happening in the world. They are often found in newspapers or online. The cartoons use humor, symbols, and exaggeration to make a point or get people to think about something in a new way. Censorship happens when people in charge, like governments, decide to block or remove certain information from being shared with others. This can include books, articles, TV shows, and even political cartoons. When cartoons or information are censored, it means someone has decided that people shouldn’t see or hear about certain ideas, often because they think it’s dangerous or inappropriate. Here’s an example: Let’s say a political cartoon criticizes a government decision. If that government doesn’t like what’s being said, they might try to hide the cartoon from the public. That’s censorship.
Jane Addams was a social reformer and activist who founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889. Hull House was a community center that helped immigrants and the poor by offering education, childcare, and other services. Addams worked to improve living conditions for people in need and fought for women's rights, including the right to vote. She was one of the first women to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her efforts to promote peace and social justice.
Ketchup was one of the first successful processed foods. By 1900 there were over 100 different brands of this popular condiment. Made from fermented tomato cores and skins, canners added vinegar to flavor and preserve it and dyes to make it red. Because the resulting concoction was prone to explode, canners started adding benzoate of soda as a preservative. Henry Heinz proved ketchup could be made without benzoate in a clean factory using ripe tomatoes.
In this letter to President Roosevelt, author Upton Sinclair expresses his support for the presence of federal inspectors in the meat-packing houses. He advised that inspectors should come disguised as workingmen to discover the true conditions, as Sinclair did when he researched his book The Jungle. The Jungle riled up the United States and its President, Teddy Roosevelt, by revealing the unsanitary conditions under which food was made. On June 30, 1906, President Roosevelt signed into law the Pure Food and Drug Act, effectively creating the Food and Drug Administration. Roosevelt had read an advanced copy of The Jungle. But almost before he finished reading it—barely a week after its first publication—Sinclair was peppering the President with letters and recommendations on how to regulate the industry. Roosevelt was sympathetic to Sinclair’s desire to regulate the industry but despised the man’s zealotry. "Tell Sinclair to go home and let me run the country for a while," Roosevelt said. Still, the two shared a lunch at the White House and an extensive correspondence—possibly sharing more letters than any President with an author who wasn’t writing a biography. Sinclair’s passionate descriptions of the meatpacking industry, and Roosevelt’s pursuit of reform in the industry, led to the nation’s first consumer protection laws.
Ida B. Wells was an African American journalist and civil rights activist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She is best known for her courageous work exposing the injustice of lynching in the United States, using her writing to bring attention to the violence faced by Black Americans. Wells also fought for women’s rights and helped to found the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Her efforts made her a key figure in both the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements.
Julia Tutwiler
This Alabamian was a pioneer in the fields of education and prison reform in her home state. She worked to open doors to university education for women, and her efforts in organizing the Tuscaloosa Benevolent Association (TBA), through which civic-minded women could worked to reform conditions in Alabama jails and prisons resulting in major changes to the Alabama prison system, including separate facilities for men and women. Tuter poem, "Alabama," was put to music and became the state song.
Jacob Riis
An immigrant who used photography to expose the poor living conditions in New York City’s slums in the late 1800s. As a police reporter, he took pictures of overcrowded tenement buildings and the people living in poverty. His work, including his book How the Other Half Lives, helped people understand the hardships of the poor and pushed for reforms. Riis’s efforts led to real changes. In 1901, New York City passed the Tenement Act, which improved building safety and living conditions by enforcing new building codes. His work helped shape social reform and brought attention to the importance of better housing for all.