USA HISTORY

THE PROGRESSIVE ERA 1900 1917

THE MUCKRAKERS OF THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is credited with exposing the unsanitary conditions in the food industry and helping to pass the
A
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
B
18th Amendment
C
Pure Food and Drug Act
D
Equal Rights Amendment
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Upton Sinclair was a famous novelist and social crusader from California, who pioneered the kind of journalism known as “muckraking.” His best-known novel was “The Jungle” which was an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry.

Detailed explanation-2: -Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. Before the turn of the 20th century, a major reform movement had emerged in the United States.

Detailed explanation-3: -On this date, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 (PL 59-384) passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 240 to 17. Muckraking journalists had long reported on the appallingly unsanitary conditions of the country’s manufacturing plants, especially those in Chicago’s meat-packing industry.

Detailed explanation-4: -Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed them into law. Taking effect in 1907, they required: sanitary conditions in factories, inspection of animals and meat, and correct labeling to prevent “adulturation” or misbranding.

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