SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE OUR WORKSHEET IS GONNA BE
KEY EVENTS YAS BOO YASSSS
wurk
Child Labor: (textbook America’s History) Even though children’s wages were low, they were
essential to a household’s income. In 1900, one out of every five children under the age of
sixteen worked. Was most widespread in the south.
Immigrants made up most of the labor supply → took the worst jobs at worst pay
(pg 549)
why reform movement was necessary, long reaching impact of the period
roosevelt
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): An Act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for
regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22116/
The Pure Food and Drug Act was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives. If any article of
food or drug is manufactured within any Territory or the District of Columbia this person will be guilty of
a misdemeanor and will be fined no more than five hundred dollars, or shall be sentenced to one year
imprisonment.
John Muir: (1838-1914) was America's most famous and influential naturalist and
conservationist, and founder of the Sierra Club. http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/
Meat Inspection Act: The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) is a United States
Congress Act that works to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from
being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed
under sanitary conditions. These requirements also apply to imported meat products, which
must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards. USDA inspection of poultry was added
by the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act authorizes
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide inspection services for all livestock and
poultry species not listed in the FMIA or PPIA, including venison and buffalo. The Agricultural
Marketing Act authorizes the USDA to offer voluntary, fee-for-service inspection services for
these same species.
Before the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was put into action, people didn’t know what was really
going into their meat, in what conditions it was being processed in, and that there were
practically no regulations or standards the product needed to meet.
UPTON SINCLAIR: Wrote “the jungle”
Forest Reserve: was permitted to "set apart and reserve . . . public land bearing forests . . . or
in part covered by timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public
reservations."
http://www.foresthistory.org/Publications/Books/Origins_National_Forests/sec17.htm
Upton Sinclair (The Jungle): In 1904, in the midst of a bitter stockyard strike, socialist writer Upton
Sinclair’s two-month visit to Chicago’s “Packingtown” area provided him with a wealth of material that
he turned into his best-selling novel, The Jungle. The book is best known for revealing the unsanitary
process by which animals became meat products.
Yet Sinclair’s primary concern was not with the goods that were produced, but with the workers who
produced them. Throughout the book, as in this chapter, he described with great accuracy the horrifying
physical conditions under which immigrant packing plant workers and their families worked and lived,
portraying the collapse of immigrant culture under the relentless pressure of industrial capitalism. Despite
his sympathies, as a middle-class reformer Sinclair was oblivious to the vibrancy of immigrant
communities beyond the reach of bosses, where immigrants found solidarity and hope. Sinclair’s graphic
descriptions of how meat products were manufactured were an important factor in the subsequent passage
of the federal Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Act in 1906. Sinclair later commented about the
effect of his novel: "I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident hit its stomach.
● described Chicago’s slaughterhouse industry
● Sinclair intended for his book to expose the plight of immigrant workers and possibly bring
readers to the Socialist movement, but people were instead shocked and sickened by the practices
of the meat industry (http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/the-progressive-presidents/)
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5727/
Pinchot:
http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/people/Pinchot/Pinchot.aspx
Health and Environment
Sarah Pak, Jordan Paton, Allison Stenzi, and Vanessa Tarabocchia
1. Guess who…
2. Who was Upton Sinclair?
a. Author who exposed the horrors and mistreatment of workers in the meatpacking industry.
b. Famous photographer who captured images of poverty.
c. The sixth member of One Direction.
d. All of the above.
3. Name 3 things that were wrong with the way meat was processed.
4. How did Theodore Roosevelt have such a big impact during this time period?
5. What act was passed by Roosevelt in 1902 that allowed the federal government to sell public
lands in the arid, desert western states and devote the proceeds to irrigation projects?
6. Who were the supporters of land conservation and wildlife sanctuaries?
7. At Washington, _________________ was employed to regard the safety of the chemical
preservatives being put into food. People who did this were called the “_______________.”
8. ____________________ wrote a book about the unsanitary process by which animals became
meat product. This book was called ___________.
9. _____________________ was the nicknamed the “Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act.”
10. ____________________ was America's most famous and influential naturalist and conservationist,
and founder of the Sierra Club.
Dr. Harvey Washington:
● “Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act” and “Crusading Chemist”
● at Washington, he was employed to regard the safety of the chemical preservatives being
put into food
○ people who did this called the “poison squad”
■ drew national attention for need of national food and drug law
● corporal, united states army government official
● http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/hwwiley.htm
Presidents:
● theodore roosevelt: signed the pure food and drug act and the meat inspection act (june
30, 1906)
● http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/purefood.html
Land Conservation:
● Newlands Act of 1902 passed by Roosevelt
● This legislation allowed the federal government to sell public lands in the arid, desert
western states and devote the proceeds to irrigation projects
● Landowners would then repay part of the irrigation costs from the proceeds they received
from their newly fertile land, and this money was earmarked for more irrigation projects
● Eventually, dozens of dams were created in the desert including the massive Roosevelt
Dam on Arizona’s Salt River.
● http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/the-progressive-presidents/
Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks:
● Roosevelt set aside 125 million acres of timberlands as federal reserves (did the same
with coal and water reserves)
○ guaranteed the preservation of some natural resources for future generations
● supported by Muir, Pinchot and Sierra Club
● preserving America’s natural resources and calling need for conservation may have been
Roosevelt’s greatest feat as president
● http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/the-progressive-presidents/
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/purefood.html:
■
1898-1899. Soldiers in the Spanish-American War die from eating badly-preserved meat or
“embalmed beef.” Two generals later testify before Congress about the scandal.
■
November 1901. Children in St. Louis and Camden die from tainted vaccines.
■
1902-1906. A group of twelve volunteers, nicknamed the “poison squad,” agree to eat food laced with
common preservatives of the time, such as formaldehyde. The study is administered by Dr. Harvey
Wiley, who is considered the father of the Food and Drug Act.
■
February 1906. Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle, an expose of the meatpacking industry.
■
June 30, 1906. President Theodore Roosevelt signs the Pure Food and Drug Act as well as the Meat
Inspection Act.
Key Players:
Upton Sinclair
Dr. Harvey Washington
Muir
Pinchot
ALL RELEVANT PRESIDENTS
Key Events:
Meat Inspection Act
Pure Food and Drug Act
Forest Reserve
Land Conservation
Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks