History 2301E Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Upton Sinclair, Infant Mortality, Investigative Journalism
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Progressives and American Expansion
Muckrakers
- Name given to them by Roosevelt
- Investigative journalism
o Jacob Rised
o Louis Rine
o Upton Sinclair
▪ Undervocer in Chicago meat plant
▪ 7 weeks there
▪ Analyzed the impact on labour, conditions of the facgory work, 60 hrs a
week, 15 cents an hour, infant mortality rate appalling
▪ Found immigrants would come looking for american dream but find
American nightmare
▪ Decides to write a semi fictional book called The Jungle
• Wants to show the reader the horror of this place
“ilai’s ipat, The Jungle, 1906
- I aied at the puli heat ad aidet I hit the i the stoah
- Roosevelt read the book and thought there was no way the meat packing plant could be
so bad so he got undercover agents and they said Sinclair got it right
- The Meat Inspect Act, 1906 government oversight of meat packaging plants
- FDA the Food and Drug Act/the Food and Drug Administration, 1906, there are actual
standards for food
Florence Kelly and Child Labour
- Child labour was not a secret, conditions for the kids was really appalling
- They were working some of the toughest jobs
o Factories, mines, etc
- Accidents and mortality rate for these kids was appalling
- Problem with child laou is that if ou’e okig as a hild, ou ee go to shool ad
ou’e alas i poet espeiall if ou get hut
Florence Kelly
- Toured Europe
- Discovered the socialist movement growing there
- When she came back se worked with Jane Adams
- Notices that its not just about adult labourers at risk but also the children
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2
- Wated la suits ut laes did’t at to pate ith he so she et to law school
and became a lawyer
- Opposition from other side as well as the parents of the child labourers
- Regulations are put in place: hours, types of hours,
Carry Nation, Prohibition and the 18th Amendment, 1919
- Grassroots movements
o Early temperance movement
o National political party to outlaw the selling of alcohol, prohibition party
Carry Nation, 1919
- 6 ft
- Ended up married to a raging alcoholic, abusive
- When she became pregnant she left him
- Issue is incredibly personal
- Deeply religious, gave her a sense of righteousness
- Tactics: went to bars and asked them nicely to close bar down, she would come back the
next night, usually armed with an axe (either hope, faith, or charity), and smashed every
bottle/glass and then went after patrons
- Backlash: immigrants, drinking was a part of their culture, saw this as social control, bars
were mad, Agriculture who grew grain/barley/wheat for alcohol
- Gets a lot of edia attetio ut does’t do athig
18th Amendment, 1919
- Impact of World War 1 US becomes bread basket for the world
- Grain is needed for war effort, to divert it to alcohol is un-American
- Most things German in US were bad – most big alcohol companies were created by
German immigrants – giving money to the enemy
- Problem with soldiers being drunk
- 18th amendment says the sale, manufacturing, and transportation of alcohol in USA
illegal lasts until 1933
Suffrage Movement and the 19th Amendment, 1920
- 15th amendment – gives African Americans the right to vote, women launched a court
case and says we should be able to vote now too
o Case as aout ae ot gede so the did’t get the ote
- Victoria Woodhull, 1872
o Ran for peside Eual Rights Pat
o Using political system to impact laws
At a state and local level, women had the right to vote in the western states
- Not a lot of women but still changing political landscape
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
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