Rewrite Essay: The Working Class in America during the Early-20th Century

Introduction

When we talk about health, there are very few researchers in history who wrote about topics involving controversial aspects, particularly with regard to evaluating the health and food sectors of the U.S. There were very few writers who wrote about the issue after through investigations, and questioned about the food industry of the United Sates. Upton Sinclair's (September 20th, 1878 - November 25th, 1968) name cannot be ignored in this regard. It was his novel “The Jungle” (published in the year 1906) that gained him world-wide fame for making a successful effort to reveal the conditions of American meat industry during the early-20th century. This work caused a public furor that has partly contributed to the passage of the Act of Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Act in 1906.

Sinclair worked as an undercover worker in the industry to gather first-hand information about the pathetic conditions in which meat was treated and processed. He exposed an issue of workers' slavery that had never been touched before his novel. The novel portrayed the conditions of American working class and the nauseating manner of treating meat in the meat packing industry that was enough to justify why Americans would largely, have to be vegetarians. The novel discussed some of the prominent challenges faced by American working class, particularly involving speculation and discussion on immigration, assimilation, gender relations, and labour conditions.

Thesis Statement

Working conditions of the American community and inhuman exploitation of the employee under capitalism, calls for sweeping reforms in the meat industry, while eliminating poverty and slavery for the American working class.

Body Paragraphs

In the early twentieth century, immigrants from all around the world chose America for greener pastures. They believed it would be a land of their dreams where they could live as they wish and earn to their heart's desire. These people were empty-handed, and came to America with the aim to earn a decent livelihood. However, things did not appear as per their expectations. While in America they were forced to work in horrible conditions on a meager wages that was hardly sufficient for them to live on. In The Jungle, Sinclair illustrated the poverty of immigrants who were living in packing town, especially the Jurgis' family who came to America with similar dreams and aspirations. They thought that America, the promised land, will give them freedom, work and wealth. When visiting the huge industrial complex of meat-packing industry, Jurgis and his companions were amazed by the organization, and by the effectiveness of these farms where “every year 8-10000000 live animals were processed here in comestibles.”

For people who recently landed in the Lithuanian forests, in which the industry is transformed every day "ten thousand cattle, as many pigs and five thousand sheep" can only be the symbol of modernity and opulence prevailing in this country. Very quickly, Jurgis and other family members are hired at different positions within the industry and now equipped with a salary ...