During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Progressive reformers worked to improve the social, political, and economic problems in American society. Throughout this time, muckrakers helped reformers by revealing injustices to Americans through journalism, books, campaigns, photographs, and political cartoons. Poor working conditions, low quality of consumer products, and inferior democracy were present in American life during the Progressive Era; reforms such as state actions, the Meat Inspection Act, and Direct Primary helped to eliminate these corruptions. An issue society faced during the Progressive Era was poor working conditions. In Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, he writes that if a person found anyone who uses knives in this factory, …show more content…
The book, After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection describes how Upton Sinclair stated how he had hoped to draw his readers’ attention to “the conditions under which toilers get their bread,” and how there are, “corrupt federal meat inspectors, unsanitary slaughter houses, tubercular cattle, and the packers’ unscrupulous business practices”(Document 4). The authors, James Davidson and Mark Lytle are expressing how meat factory workers are making terrible, unsanitary food. They’re pointing out that not even the meat inspectors care for the condition the meat is in. In other words, just as long as they’re making a profit, the inspectors could care less about the meat’s quality. However, consumer products soon took a turn for the better when the Meat Inspection Act was finally passed. President Theodore Roosevelt “signed into law a Meat Inspection Act that banned the packers from using any unhealthy dyes, chemical preservatives, or adulterants”(Document 4). This stresses the point that meat made in these factories were so revolting, it would be unjust for any American to consume it. No American should be tricked into eating filth like this meat, and President Roosevelt knew this. Without him, citizens would still have no knowledge of the meats they’re