Meatpacking Industry During The Progressive Era

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The Progressive Era was solely focused on proceeding towards a better, more uniform society. A vast increase of immigrants, the growth of uncontrolled big business, increased labor unrest, corruption and inefficiencies within government and many other social issues had emerged by the beginning of the 20th century. The early Progressives included those working mainly at the local and state level, including former Populists (a person who is concerned with the views of ordinary people), followers of the Social Gospel movement, European socialist immigrants, and muckraking journalists; similar to today’s investigative reporters. As the Progressive movement continued to make headlines, civil middle-class reformers, both men and women, had influenced …show more content…
The meat packing industry as well as the working conditions of work places concerned the people and is why such issue had been brought to attention. In the book, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Sinclair illustrated the horrendous and completely nauseating conditions of the meatpacking industry. The Neill-Reynolds Report of 1906 creates distorted and disturbing images of the appalling conditions happening in this industry. It was not until these documents were distributed to the public that President Theodore Roosevelt believed it was time to take matter into his own hands. Roosevelt established the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 as well as the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 in order to solve such issues concerning the meat packing industries. It is said that these acts improved the working conditions of the industry immensely and removed copious amount of diseases that had previously afflicted the industry, President Roosevelt attempted to enhance these reforms to the next level. Roosevelt pushed for a decrease in working hours an increase in worker compensation. However, Congress once again hindered such establishment, therefore limiting the overall achievements of the movement. Child labor was also a central focus during this era. Majority of reformers were against the idea of child labor and sought to put an end to such inhumanely actions. The Keating-Owen Act of 1916 was supported by President Woodrow Wilson, in hopes to regulate child labor. However, the act was never established due to the Supreme Court’s ignorance on the topic. It was not until the Child Labor Act, that the children found justice for their long working hours and conditions. Overall, significant advancements were shown in labor issues, but were again limited in terms of what could have been
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