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Social Change Between 1870 And 1990 Essay

1156 Words5 Pages

The Statement “Between 1870 and 1990, the United States underwent a great deal of political change, but most Americans experienced very little social change” is not entirely correct. The United States did encounter a lot of political change between 1870 and 1990, but the United States also encountered a lot of social change. Some examples of social change throughout American History are industrialization and urbanization, Progressive Era Reforms, and the Civil Rights movements. From 1870 to 1990 the United States experienced a great deal of political change but also experienced a great deal of social change. Between 1870 and 1900 the United States made great advancements in industrialization. “Industrial capitalism realized the greatest advances in efficiency and productivity that the world had ever seen. Massive new companies marshaled capital on an unprecedented scale and provided enormous profits that created unheard-of fortunes. But it also created millions of low-paid, unskilled, unreliable jobs with long hours and dangerous working conditions.” This period was known as the Gilded Age. The Gilded …show more content…

It took place from 1890 to 1920. This Era was a time of reform movements aimed at addressing the problems in American society. This includes problems with the food industries, working conditions, and women’s rights. Before the Progressive Era reforms, the food quality, specifically in the meatpacking industry, was very unhealthy. Upton Sinclair wrote in The Jungle, “There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about it.” The conditions in the meatpacking industry were unsanitary and needed to be changed. “Sinclair’s expose led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.” This is also known as the FDA. The FDA is in place to make sure that food is safe to

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Sinclair sheds light on how unsanitary the meat processing industry was, using words to paint a mental picture in the minds of the reader leaving them with a bad taste in their mouths. This story eventually led to the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act after people went crazy reading what was described in the book. Although no specific facts were provided other than the contents in the book itself, it held true accounts of what the industry was like. Sinclair would speak of the rat poison being left close to the meat, or the use of the rotting meat to be sold. With this story people began to see the gruesome conditions by which their food was being handled.

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