Social Reform In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Muckrakers was a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt for journalists or novelists who sought out controversial allegations and misconduct among businesses and politics; bringing awareness and causing reform within America. A fluctuation of muckrakers began to sweep America during the early 1900s; as its citizens questioned the very framework of the contentious country they reside in. Later, becoming a powerful force, where a single column of text had the ability to influence millions of Americans. Pioneering the path for thousands of journalists to follow in their footsteps, subsequently, finding answers to questions often overlooked by the general population. America’s government has always eluded from sharing inside information to both foreign

At the forefront of this reform were the muckrakers, who brought light upon the corruption embedded within America’s collective ideologies. During this time the idealistic ‘American dream’ was prevalent, that all Americans should have freedom, money, and the ability to prosper. Implanted at the front of this visionary ideology was the large belief Americans should take extreme measures to gain money, ignoring the many inadequate standards the majority of these industries contain. Upton Sinclair was a primary example of a muckraker emphasizing the need for social reform within America, as he published many novels depicting the extortion that was occurring unknowingly to the general population. Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, speaks of a fictional family who have immigrated to Chicago, the protagonist later ends up working in the meatpacking industry. Sinclair speaks of the way meats are packed and processed, large companies corrupt ideologies, along with the dire conditions that their workers undergo daily. He wrote of the sickening events, depicting them in detail “men fell into the vats; and when

Many allegations speaking of the misconduct within politics were getting made by muckrakers as time progressed, along with an increase in conversation about politics. A fluctuation of articles began to get written speaking of the much needed regulations to create a sufficient government. David Phillips wrote the Treason of the Senate, a series of articles published in Cosmopolitan magazine. It spoke of the corruption within America’s politics through David Phillip’s depiction of current events. He spoke of the ways large companies would get their concerns brought up to the senate prior to average citizens of America, through corruption and payouts. As Well, as the larger say said companies had in the election process of senators. A passage from one of the articles writes; “Bribery is a weapon forbidden those who stand for right and justice—who "fights the devil with fire" gives him choice of weapons, and must lose to him, though seeming to win. A few thousand dollars put in the experienced hands of the heelers, and the senatorial general agent of "the interests" is secure for another six years.” (Treason of the Senate, Phillips)This series had an immediate impact, resonating within the group of reformers already developed. This caused Americans to confront