Upton Sinclair: The Role Of Social Reform In The Gilded Age

As the Civil War came to an end, the U.S. entered into the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was characterized by industrialization, urbanization, and immigration, but it also consisted of poverty, labor unions, and political and business corruption due to the significant change of industrialization in U.S. society. In order to change and fix the troubles of the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era began in 1897, where progressives believed that it was the responsibility of the government to bring positive change for the working class. As businesses were becoming wealthy and powerful, they were also corrupt due to monopolies and trusts, while also influencing the government, factories also had no cleanliness or safety, and only white men held the majority

Upton Sinclair, a muckraker, brought attention to the American public, about the meatpacking industry in his book The Jungle. In his book, it revolved around a Lithuanian immigrant family, who immigrated to Chicago and the difficulties and poverty they faced while in Packington. The purpose of the novel was to bring about attention and expose the conditions of the meatpacking industry, so that the government would be forced to to fix it. The intended audience that Sinclair hoped it would catch the attention of was the American public so they could be exposed to the hidden truth about the meat packing industry and the government as well, so that they could also pass food safety laws.(Doc.2) Although it was a fictional story, it was successful in bringing attention to how filthy the meatpacking industry was to the government and public. It caught the attention of the U.S. public because Sinclair noted how rats crawled all over the meat and workers would clean their dirty hands in the water that would be put into the meat that consumers would eat. Smoked sausages had chemicals put into them to alter the appearance of it. It was seen as outrageous to the American public and the government. The significance of this novel was that since Roosevelt promised the Square Deal, it meant that he would ensure consumer protection as his role as president. Consumer Protection Laws were safety

Big businesses and corporations were very influential and wealthy so they would use that to get certain legislations passed in Congress for their benefit. Monopolies and trusts would also bribe politicians, and this upset American society since the government is meant to work for the good of the people. A muckraker who would bring awareness to the particular corrupt relationship between big businesses and the government would be Lincoln Steffens. He notes in The Shame of the Cities that wealthy businessmen would buy votes and some would even partake in political machines. This was an illegal method to keep a candidate in office. (Doc.3) Steffen brought awareness to the relationship between businesses and politics was because his point of view as a muckraker was to expose the problems of the the Gilded Age was that it needed to be changed and fixed. A muckraker would do this either through journalism or another form of writing to gain support from the public. In this way, muckrakers and progressives hope that it will force the government to fix the problems that have continued. The solution that progressives wanted for the political corruption between businesses and government was to have a direct democracy. This would mean that the power would be given to the citizens of the U.S. and they would be