Upton Sinclair

When the giants of business began to exponentially grow and poverty levels substantially started to rise and immigration was viewed as a highly controversial issue, voices crying for change began to challenge the way Americans perceived the concept of democracy during the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. If politicians could be bought, what hope was there for the poor? If immigrants were to be treated as secondhand citizens, what promise did the country have of ever expanding national influence?…

Many companies such as meat factories were putting poisonous and deleterious ingredients into their products both accidentally and on purpose. This was happening because of the need to produce more of product instead a better quality product. Upton Sinclair wrote about the horrors of the meatpacking industry from his perspective in his book The Jungle. Roosevelt read his book and immediately established a federal agency to “police the quality and labeling of food and drugs,” because he thought…

was grown in agriculture, but they were sent immediately to factories. During this time, there were no food safety regulations in place. For the US, it wasn’t until the early 20th century when the Pure Food and Drug Act passed with the help of Upton Sinclair that any real change occurred. Other than himself, several progressive reformers and groups were active in the carelessness of food. In Sinclair’s The Jungle, he exposes the meatpacking industry in Chicago by detailing the unsanitary and…

The growing pains in Texas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to expansion and modernization affect everyone. The rapid changes in Texas created chaos and prosperity for the people on the land. The swift changes caused people to face economic, social, political, and demographic issues differently and some faced with more difficult issues than others were. The demographics of the state experience great change because many were created in the cities. The people had to move in…

hamburger and French fry eaters. American citizens should have the right to know the truth about what we consume into our bodies and Eric Schlosser is second to none by providing us these gruesome details. I think that Eric Schlosser will be the Upton Sinclair of our generation and this book will have huge historical and social impacts as the years go by; especially since the severity of consequences concerning mad cow disease still remains uncertain. This book should be read by everyone who is…

A Progressive can be defined as a person or group applying social reform or new, profuse ideas. The first progressive president, Theodore Roosevelt, had a very positive impact by transforming the United States into a more modern country and all around a greater country. Roosevelt was one of the most influential people that ever ran the Unites States. This ambitious leader balanced the interests of business, consumer, and laborer. He helped to better America as a country by mainly passing laws…

Sean Magers Magers 1 Mr. McKown Government 5 December 2017 The Progressive Era Amendments The Progressive Era started with progressivism and the Progressive movement that started with our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt. Progressivism was continued with the presidency of President Taft and President Wilson. This Era consisted of different ideas and reformist…

As a society we have seen more muckrakers emerge since Upton Sinclair than ever before. The Jungle was only the beginning of an exposé on the food industry that is still relevant today. Great writers and journalists continue to try and educate the public on just where their food is coming from. Michael Pollan presents the reader with his own work of food journalism in the form of Omnivore’s Dilemma, in which he defines industrial logic and how this idea motivates industry to produce the food we…

The Ghost reflects the harsh conditions of industrializing society. “I did not dream that work was so terrible a thing. From half-past five in the morning to ten o’clock at night I am everybody’s slave” (London 39). Hump is starting to stand on legs of his own and constantly notes the cruelties that the everyday worker suffers from, and after only a few days of arriving on the Ghost he describes himself as the most miserable he has ever been with a swollen knee, multiple burns, lacerations,…

There are many forms of protest in today’s society; marches, boycotting, striking, artwork, even literature. Regardless of all the different types, there is always one common goal in mind: To bring about change. Literature can be a much more subtle form of protest but has the power to be just as effective. In Divided We Fall by Trent Reedy, the goal is to reform an oppressive government. However, he makes the reader actually figure out what he’s protesting without just telling you. This book is…