1906: uproar from 'The Jungle': a novel reveals foul conditions in the food industry and helps spur the reforms of the Progressive Era.

• Author: Edidin, Peter

BACKGROUND

The U.S. has long been the world's great model of capitalism. But there's been debate about the power and practices of "big business" since America industrialized after the Civil War. That debate continues today over issues like globalization, outsourcing; and the proper amount of government regulation.

DEBATE TOPIC

* Sinclair and the other muckrakers wanted to expose what they saw as unfair or immoral practices by Large corporations or trusts. Do you feel that today there is too much government regulation of business or too little?

* Keep in mind that business Leaders often argue that too much regulation can stifle economic growth, while labor unions often complain that businesses won't act properly unless they are required to do so.

WRITING PROMPT

* Ask students to imagine they are one of the new immigrant workers in Packingtown. Have them write a Letter home describing working conditions, their life in a crowded city, and their impressions of America in 1906.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* Why do you think the Progressive movement petered out with the onset of World War I and the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties?

* When The New York Times reviewed The Jungle, the reviewer thought it was more a piece of propaganda than a work of art. What's the difference between the two, and how can you tell one from the other?

* If you were a muckraker today, what would you write about?

CRITICAL THINKING

* Remind students that unsanitary conditions in the food industry still make headlines, such as during periodic outbreaks of E. coli bacteria, which has been found in municipal water supplies, apple cider, and fast-food hamburgers.

* The bacteria have caused illness and some deaths.

FAST FACT

* Upton Sinclair ran for Congress and for Governor of California three times each. He lost all six races.

WEB WATCH

www.pace.edu/library/ pages/links/muckrakers/ Pages/Muckrakers.htm is a Pace University Web site with a feature about muckrakers, past and present.

'The meat will be shoveled into carts [for processing] and the man who did the shoveling will not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one.'--The Jungle

There is a story that President Theodore Roosevelt came to breakfast at the White House one morning in 1906, carrying a new novel called The Jungle. Once seated, the President picked up where he had left off, reading along while eating his usual hearty meal, when suddenly he looked down in disgust at the sausage on his plate, carried it to...