The book was written to show the horrible working and living conditions in the packing towns of chicago, but what caused a major controversy was the filth that was going into americas meat. Political cartoon, the meat market, page 1 of 2 title the. Todays reallife meatpacking story is far from that fictional horror, but parts of the book s message resonate in the here and now. Americas many stockyards were known to be filthy, and a breeding ground for diseased meat. The amalgamated meat cutters and butcher workmen of north america amc was the first national organization dedicated to bringing up the working standards of the meat industry through unionization. Vivid and eyeopening novel concerning the exploitation and grinding poverty of workers in the chicago meat packing factories of the 1920s. A 1906 report by the bureau of animal industry refuted sinclairs severest allegations, characterizing them as intentionally misleading and false, willful and deliberate misrepresentations of fact, and utter absurdity. In 1865 when the union stock yard opened, the meat packers began to build large plants near the stockyards.
The jungle, a 1906 novel by upton sinclair, is full of graphic descriptions of the poor conditions workers and cattle endured in the chicago meat packing industry. With an incredible selection of steaks, pork and poultry, seafood, and even appetizers and sides, stock yards is your destination for incredible steaks online, delivered right to your door. By the 1890s, the railroad money behind the union stockyards was vanderbilt money. Constitutional rights foundation bill of rights in action fall 2008 volume 24, no. How chicagos slaughterhouse spectacles paved the way for big. Dec 03, 2015 how chicago s slaughterhouse spectacles paved the way for big meat. Who took the migrants on a tour of the chicago stockyards and packing plants in the jungle. The meat packing plants that jurgis works in are in packingtown, chicago. An expose of the american meatpacking industry and the horrors endured by. In preparation for the writing of the jungle, sinclair visited chicago meatpacking plants disguised as a worker in order to experience at first hand the brutal working conditions and the contamination of the meat products for. Packingtown is a section in chicago where the packing houses are located. There was money to be made both at home, as well as overseas.
Utterly disturbing, centuryold photos of meatpacking. While upton sinclair originally intended to appeal to the publics heart concerning the conditions and the treatment of workers, it was obvious that the book had more of. President theodore roosevelt signed two historic bills aimed at. Strike in a packing house homicide in chicago 18701930. Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclair. In the jungle, author upton sinclair took aim at the brutalization and exploitation of workingmen in a chicago meatpacking house. Swift brands, south chicago il, meat packing plant, circa 1917 as a person who advocates for the elimination of the coercively funded state and the supremacy of property rights, i often find myself involved in arguments over the need for inspection and regulation of food and drug products. May 12, 2016 the jungle exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry. Theodore roosevelt on june 30, 1906, that prohibited the sale of adulterated or misbranded livestock and derived products as food and ensured that livestock were slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working. Jan 16, 2012 men standing on wooden beams between the cattle yards in chicago, c.
Cudahy packing company project gutenberg selfpublishing. The jungle, a 1906 novel by upton sinclair, is full of graphic descriptions of the poor conditions workers and cattle endured in the chicago meatpacking industry. The emergence of modern america 18901930 national archives. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the jungle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. It was incorporated in 1911 and in 1945 was acquired by the marhoefer family.
Thousands of immigrants still come, as they did a century ago. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the united states. The meat packing industry started in the early 1900s. Who took the migrants on a tour of the chicago stockyards. The law is noteworthy for reforming the meatpacking industry in the. Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclairthe explosive growth of american industry in the late nineteenth century caused a similar expansion in the work force. Feb 15, 2014 the meat packing plants that jurgis works in are in packingtown, chicago. Meatpacking article about meatpacking by the free dictionary. Upton sinclair, whose muckraking changed the meat industry. The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Thus, chicago s big three packersphilip armour, gustavus swift, and nelson morriswere in a position to influence livestock prices at one end of this complex industrial chain and the price of meat products at the other end. Apr 15, 2020 for a generation meat packing provided a solid living. It was founded by patrick cudahy march 17, 1849 july 25, 1919 and his brother john cudahy, irish immigrants from county kilkenny whose family came to milwaukee, wisconsin to avoid the great irish famine.
If you know the answer to this question, please register to join. Largest of all was the meatpacking industry in chicago. Note part of an ad for armour, one of the big packers, on a building to the right. Sep 06, 2015 in chicago 1900 the chicago meatpacking industry, along with other industries, began to expand and grow. Chicago remained americas largest meat packing region until the 1920s. The jungle was first published in 1905 as a serial in the appeal to reason and then as a book in.
Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry. The jungle changed meatpacking, but dangers, tensions. Essay on upton sinclair and the chicago meatpacking. Nov 30, 2010 regulation of the meatpacking industry began in 1906 after president theodore roosevelt read a book about the plight of the working class and the corruption of the meatpacking industry by journalist upton sinclair. Chicago meat inspectors in early 1906 sinclair published the book in serial form between february 25, 1905, and november 4, 1905, in appeal to reason, the socialist newspaper that had supported sinclairs undercover investigation the previous year. The jungle exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry. The jungle is really a social reformers investigation into the reality of chicago s entirely unregulated meatpacking industry. This book led to the meat inspection act and the pure food and drug act of 1906, which eventualy led to the food and drug administration. The cattle yards that seems to go on forever, and a view of the packing plants in the distance. Upton sinclairs the jungle constitutional rights foundation.
The jungle is a 1906 novel by the american journalist and novelist upton sinclair 18781968. The meatpacking industry denied everything, but investigators dispatched by thenpresident theodore roosevelt after he read the jungle found that, as the president relayed, the chicago stock yards are revolting. Regulation of the meatpacking industry began in 1906 after president theodore roosevelt read a book about the plight of the working class and the corruption of the meatpacking industry by journalist upton sinclair. Jul 16, 2014 the books impact was immediate and practical the us congress passed the meat inspection act and the pure food and drug act in the same year. The negro in the slaughtering and meat packing industry in. It was closed in 1971, because it was unable to compete with newer, more modern facilities. They all live in a small town named packingtown in chicago. Upton sinclair, published serially in 1905 and as a singlevolume book in 1906. In november and december of 1904, the new york writer upton sinclair spent seven weeks in chicago s meatpacking districtthe union stock yard and the surrounding neighborhood, known as packingtown or back of the yards. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a centralized processing area. Yet very little of the jungle has to do with unsanitary meatpacking practices. By the 1880s, the european meat markets closed their doors to imported american meat. Dangers, tensions lurk in meatpacking industry nbc news.
By 1960 wages in meatpacking were 15 percent higher, a number. The book was a pulitzer prize winner and covered the facts of the meatpacking industry of the time. Search or browse our list of meat packing plants companies in illinois by category or location. Chicago, il i live in the suburbs and this is the place i go for meat. Nov 10, 2015 i have opted for the the rating with the average reader in mind and given it 3 stars. The salt opened in 1865, chicago s union stock yard was the greatest livestock market the world had seen. Modern meatpacking dates from the introduction of refrigerated railway cars. It is a book that will appeal to a narrow group of readers. The jungle was about the meatpacking industry in chicago, illinois around the beginning of the 1900s.
Packingtown was notorious for their awful living conditions and working conditions. Novel by upton sinclair about an immigrant lithuanian family in chicago and the corrupt meatpacking industry date. Strike in a packing house homicide in chicago 1870. Gary younge on upton sinclairs 1906 novel the jungle books. Meat packing plants, like many industries in the early 20th century, were known to overwork their employees, failed to. Oh, yeah, great, why dont we pass the meat that untold numbers of slavik. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of byproducts including hides, feathers, dried blood, and. Granger historical picture archivealamy packing plants relied on a. Thus, chicagos big three packersphilip armour, gustavus swift, and nelson morriswere in a position to influence livestock prices at one end of this complex industrial chain and the price of meat products at the other end. The law reformed the meat packing industry, mandating that the u. How chicagos slaughterhouse spectacles paved the way for. This excerpt from upton sinclairs muckraking novel of the chicago meatpacking industry describes, in graphic detail, how cattle are slaughtered and.
The book was fiction but based on the things sinclair had seen. Sinclair used royalties from the book to start a utopian colony. A swift and company meatpacking house in chicago, circa 1906. In 1950 wages for meatpacking were only slightly lower than u. In upton sinclairs novel, the jungle, sinclair argues the horrors of the meat packing industry and how corrupt capitalism. Meat packing blues a book examines when chicago was the king of. Essay on upton sinclair and the chicago meatpacking industry. As a result, the government would step in and pass legislation that protected consumers from consuming unsafe food. Give several examples and at least one direct quote from the jungle. Becoming a meat packing worker does not require any particular level of education, and necessary skills can be attained through onthejob training.
His novel, the jungle 1906, a shocking expose of the unsanitary and dangerous conditions in the plants, was an. The themetracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of the horrors of the meatpacking industry appears in each chapter of the jungle. That book described meatpacking workers in early 20thcentury chicago facing similar conditions to those in the modern industry. One of the most powerful pieces done by a muckraker was the book the jungle, by upton sinclair. While upton sinclair originally intended to appeal to the publics heart concerning the conditions and the treatment of workers, it was obvious that the book had more of an impact on the meat industry. The salt opened in 1865, chicago s union stock yard was the greatest.
His writing is as streamlined and efficient as the disassembly lines that inspired the book. Then an injury results in jurgis being fired from the meatpacking plant. In 1904, upton sinclair, a novelist traveled to chicago to gather information about the terrible things and abused that happened in the meat packing industry. When the packers first entered an area, they wooed a respected butcher. At the turn of the century, amc organizers united workers in the chicago stockyards and packinghouses. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the united states in chicago and similar industrialized cities. The book is centred around jurgis, a jejune lithuanian immigrant and his travails through this dreadful industry. Utterly disturbing, centuryold photos of meatpacking facilities. The meat is literally fresh off the butcher block, the prices are unbelievable and the variety of meat is outstanding. An ardent activist, champion of political reform, novelist, and progressive journalist, upton sinclair is perhaps best known today for the jungle his devastating expose of the meatpacking industry. A protest novel he privately published in 1906, the book was a shocking revelation of intolerable labor practices and unsanitary working conditions in the chicago stockyards. This novel soon became a focus of controversy and change within the united states.
Working conditions in the new urban industrial zones were wretched, and a progressive reform movement soon grew out of the need to address the health and welfare of the american worker. Cattle shipper gustavus swift is credited with the development of railroad car cooling systems using ice. In the meat industrys early days, packing plants had rooms cooled with ice to store meats. Click to view photo details the stockyards and the meat packing industry played a prominent role in the history and economic development of chicago during this period. Late in 1904, 26yearold upton sinclair left his wife and young son in a cold, dilapidated farmhouse outside princeton, new jersey, to research the meatpacking industry in a section of chicago. Nothing brings flavor to the table like ordering stock yards steaks online. Even if sinclairs detailed descriptions of the trade and practises are only half true, its. Vivid and eyeopening novel concerning the exploitation and grinding poverty of workers in the chicago meatpacking factories of the 1920s. Chicago s union stock yards 1865 was the nations largest livestock and packing center until the mid20th cent.
Essay about upton sinclair and the chicago meatpacking. The negro in the slaughtering and meat packing industry in chicago book. Making profits initially relied upon two major things cheap labor, and the absence of any type of regulation. The battles between labor and management were sporadic, continuing, hard fought and often bitter, as vast numbers of workers from abroad and from the american south and rural areas flocked to chicago seeking work in the industry. Upton sinclair and the chicago meat packing industry in 1900, there were over 1. The chicago stockyards was well known at the time as slaughterhouse to the world. Pure food and drug act was passed in 1906, and conditions in american slaughterhouses were improved. In chicago 1900 the chicago meatpacking industry, along with other industries, began to expand and grow. Chicago packing houses because railroads had connected chicago to the urban markets on the east coast and the midwestern farmers raising livestock, the city grew into the chief meat packing city in america. Amendment to the united states constitution 19 gave congress the power to tax income. Sinclairs book was so moving and troubling that it inspired the establishment of the food and drug administration, a federal agency that is to this day responsible for regulating. As the scale and size of their facilities increased, so did the dangers. In 1900 the chicago packinghouses employed 25,000 of the countrys 68,000 packinghouse employees. If you have read upton sinclairs the jungle, and most of us probably have, then you are at least aware of the subject of this book, the chicago stockyards.
The jungle was actually about immigrant labor abuses. Cattle are first led into a narrow alley and stunned by a blow on the head, in a packing plant in austin, minnesota, 1941. The jungle, novel by upton sinclair, published serially in 1905 and as a singlevolume book in 1906. How chicago s slaughterhouse spectacles paved the way for big meat. May 07, 2019 the chicago houses wanted local butchers to focus exclusively on selling meat. In 1906, upton sinclairs novel the jungle uncovered harrowing conditions inside americas meat packing plants and initiated a period of transformation in the nations meat industry. The book, the jungle, by upton sinclair had a major impact on the way the world saw the american meat packing industry. Chicago was the worst and biggest meat packing industry in the early 1900s. Upton sinclair and the chicago meat packing industry 1072 words 5 pages. Upton sinclair wrote the jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meat packing industry.
1394 151 1176 1043 1224 805 1374 566 1198 923 380 333 166 26 1180 1120 1013 729 288 1053 1408 211 954 923 527 483 182 1487 1281 273