Summary Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

Tarbell gave people the facts to back their worries about the rapidly growing Industrial America. Anti-trust actions were also implemented by popular demand of the public out of concerns for a small portion of the population being the large money holders. Roosevelt even fought the intent of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to go up against the Standard Oil Company. The Standard Oil Company was forced to break down into many different businesses. Rockefeller was indicted along with multiple other individuals that were found guilty as a part of the conspiracy to monopolize and wrongfully favor certain people over everyone else. Upton Sinclair was raised in a sheltered life. He often questioned the world, but rarely received any answers. It was not

Citizens were outraged with the whole thing as Sinclair continued to tell what he saw happening. This story is told through his book The Jungle in a fictional account of the experience. Meatpacking grew rapidly much like the rest of the industries during this time without regulations. Sinclair got the attention of the people and they demanded action by the government. The reaction of the public led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. From this point on there have been federal regulations and policies regarding the food

The book The Shame of the Cities was a compilation of Steffens articles published by McClure’s Magazine. This magazine is where he worked with two other well-known muckrakers both Ida Tarbell and Ray Stannard Baker. They later formed The American Magazine together in 1906. Steffens also knew Upton Sinclair during this time. Steffens was cut off from family money and ended up finding a job. He became a police reporter where he discovered his interest with police corruption and further more government. Not only did Steffens want to expose the business men that lined their pockets through other than honorable methods, but also that there was a pattern to this corruption. It was money and greed that kept the pattern going. He could not pin point the causes of it instead Steffens only saw the outcomes of it all.

Steffens focused his interest on investigating government and political corruption. “The misgovernment of the American people is misgovernment by the American people” (Steffens 3). Steffens discusses American egotism and quickness to blame the “foreign element” for the problems in the cities. When in fact it is the people not taking charge of their government and making the changes necessary to succeed as a country. Steffens says that business is politics and if you do not like it then make it something else. This is because business is just that