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... ch men labored on slippery floors processing the meat. Open vats laid upon the level of the floor, the peculiar trouble of these workers was they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting. Sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Andersons Pure Leaf Lard (Cook 112)! To insure that the meatpacking plants would stay open the owners would do just about anything. Any inspector who tried to interfere with the system did not last long.
Government inspectors were afraid for their life, so they would lie and pass the meat off as okay for public consumption. Owners paid up to two thousand dollars a week hush money from the tubercular steers alone. Also, the same with hogs which died of cholera on the trains, and which you might see them being loaded into box cars and hauled away to a place called Globe, in Indiana, where they made a fancy lard. Meat would also be covered up so that they would pass inspection and be able to be sold in the city. To cover it up the workers would put chemicals in it so that it would cover up the smell or even to turn the meat color to its original color if it had been moldy or old. The Jungle had a wide variety of influences on just about everybody who read the novel.
Sinclair's descriptions of the meat made people stare with horror at the corned beef on their dinner tables and promptly write to their congressmen (Fischer 1). Long before Sinclair's novel, a good many voters had suspected something was wrong in the Packing Industry, because hundreds of soldiers had gotten sick on embalmed beef during the Spanish-American War. Disease had swept the ranks; death rates had soared. It was later reported, with no exaggeration, that more American fighting men had been killed off by the meat packers than by Spanish bullets (Cook 115). The novel appeared for sale on February 16, 1905. Having investigated the Chicago packinghouses, Sinclair hoped to arouse sympathy for the conditions of the workers and promote the cause of socialism, but in the process he also included graphic description of the filth and poisons that was put into canned meats.
Sinclair was disappointed that the public read The Jungle as an appeal for food legislation, he later stated, I aimed at the publics heart and by accident I hit their stomach (2). Readers didnt care about the political philosophy imbedded in his message, what got them was the revolting details about the meat they were eating. After the release of The Jungle, a parody on a familiar childhood rhyme appeared in the press. It read: And now its labeled chicken (Cook 116). The novel was a best seller and led, partly because President Theodore Roosevelt reacted to it by setting in motion a government investigation, to federal meat inspection and the passage of the Pure Food and Drugs Act. Roosevelt read the book.
He was horrified at the books descriptions of the packing houses. Thus, he instructed the Secretary of Agriculture and a commissioner of the Department of Labor to investigate Sinclair's story. The two-commission reported that The Jungle did not misrepresent the deplorable conditions of the industry (Miller 5) It wasnt easy to pass the two bills, because the packing industry kept striking back viciously. The packing industry was able to win some favorable publicity by printing a series of articles in The Saturday Evening Post saying that the packing industry only produced the purest and finest of meats. Roosevelt's inspectors confirmed Sinclair's descriptions so Roosevelt could convince Congress to pass an act.
Roosevelt's investigating commissioners were able to get Mrs. Bloor to help them get in touch with potential witnesses, who were able to confirm some of Sinclair's allegations. The bill was quickly passed and signed by the President. Even though bills were passed, they werent enforced to the point where it made a huge difference.
It did make a difference but diseased meat was still appearing on the city markets. The bills did not pierce the thickest skulls and most leathery hearts among the meat packers, but it had its effect on the American people. Meat sales were cut in half, because of the bills. No other American novel, before or since, has produced such fast action (Fischer 1). Since 1906, many debates have been made about the specifics of food and drug regulation, but never any serious suggestion that the two laws should be repealed. In conclusion, Sinclair was able to show how meatpacking was hell on earth, and how revolting some of the meat was that was sent out into the public.
The owners of the meatpacking industries didnt care if anybody got sick or died by eating or preparing the meat all they cared about was their money. They had so much money that they were able to pay off inspections just to protect their industry. They would do anything just for their money. That just goes to show the reader what kind of world this world is turning into, a greedy one, a world where the inhabitants would do anything to please their needs or wants. We as a society need to learn how not to be so materialistic and how to respect other people.
Bibliography: Works Cited Are, Jeff. Conditions in Meatpacking Plants, 1906. web Gale Group, 1999 Cook, Fred. The Muckrakers. Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1972 Frakes, Jordan. Summary.
web 1995 Garraty, John. 101 More Things Every College Graduate Should Know About American History. " American Heritage, December 1987. Gale, Jessica. Meat-Packing Horrors. web Sunsite Inc. , 1998 Lee, Rick.
Upton Sinclair Exposes U. S. Meat-Packing Conditions. web Gale Group. 1999 Miller, Ruth. Pure Food & Drug Act & Meat Inspection Act, June 30, 1906. web Gale Group. 1999 Mitchell, Greg.
How Media Politics Was Born. American Heritage, sept / oct 1988. Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York. Robert Bentley Inc. , 1946 Yardley, Jonathan.
The Ten Books That Shaped The American Character. American Heritage, April/May 1985.
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Research essay sample on Meat Packing Packing Industry
