The Progressives and Labor: The Jungle

The Jungle Novel written in 1906 by Upton Sinclair Intended to expose terrible working conditions in Chicago’s stockyards Readers more upset by unsanitary conditions in which meat was produced Meat Inspection Act, 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906 Established the government agency that would eventually become the FDA

How much has changed? “…he worked in a place where his feet were soaked in chemicals, and it was not long before they had eaten through his new boots. Then sores began to break out on his feet, and grow worse and worse…. Everyone felt it, sooner or later, and then it was all up with him, at least for that sort of work. The sores would never heal – in the end his toes would drop off, if he did not quit.” The Jungle, 1906

How much has changed? “….a fire at a poultry plant killed twenty-five workers…. The plant had never been inspected…. It’s emergency exits had been chained shut, and the bodies of workers were found in piles near the locked doors.” Fast Food Nation, 2002

How much has changed? “…the meat produced… had never been filthier. At… slaughterhouses, visibly diseased animals – cattle infected with measles and tapeworms, covered with abscesses – were being slaughtered.” Fast Food Nation, 2002

How much has changed? “It seemed that he was working in the room where the men prepared the beef for canning, and the beef had lain in vats full of chemicals, and men with great forks speared it out and dumped it into trucks, to be taken to the cooking rom. When they had speared out all they could reach, they emptied the vat on the floor, and then with shovels scraped up the balance and dumped it into the truck.” The Jungle, 1906

Exit Slip Were the Progressives successful in regulating conditions in the meatpacking industry? Why or why not?