Preview

The Jungle Analysis Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
666 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Jungle Analysis Paper
Recent United States History
Class Number 8469
March 2, 2005
The Jungle Analysis Paper America, by the turn of the twentieth century, was regarded as the "Land of Opportunity," and lured thousands of immigrants. The foreigners that fled to the United States were in search of new lives; better lives. America was at the age of industrialization, and the economy was shifting from agriculture to factories. There were jobs in the factories available to un-skilled workers, which were the majority of the immigrants. And industrialists had no problem finding a way to exploit the workers lives. The migration of Americans from farms to cities and the massive amount of immigration provided an abundant supply of cheap labor. Industrialists saw no economic sense in a hazardless workplace; an injured worker was easily replaced by another. Wages were kept low because there was always another worker willing to work for lower wages. The hiring of women and children as well as men created an excess supply of labor; leaving every worker commanding low wages. Inadequate wages for workers forced all members of the family to work in the factories. Children as young as eight years old worked. Wages were paid hourly and there were few limits as to how many hours workers were allowed to work. A family 's income was still low considering the amount of hours they worked. As a result, multiple families shared small apartments and living conditions were dismal. Most families rented their housing. With the surplus of workers, factory owners were discouraged to maintain a clean and safe workplace. They were overly concerned with making profit; far more than the health of their workers. The cheaper the labor cost and the cost of sustaining a clean atmosphere; the more profit the owners would get. This led to a filthy and perilous working environment. The meat packing industry may have been the worst. It had high productivity, but its condition declined to the point of



References: Nash, Gary B., and Jeffrey, Julie Roy., et al. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society. 2nd ed. New York: Longman Publishers, 2003. Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. 1906.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Between 1865 and 1900, American industry workers experienced both good and hard times. Labor Unions were forming, and these new creations often produced better lives for the workers. However, waves of immigrants were also coming into America, which resulted in the threat of job stability. Labor Unions and Immigration both had momentous effects upon the industry worker, for better or for worse.…

    • 905 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Immigrants played a big part in the industrialization and Gilded age of America. Immigrants had a vision of “pull” factors of why they wanted to come to America, and some of these reasons were valid while others were not. First of all, some “push” factors from their homelands included how many immigrants sought to escape conditions like famine, land shortages, or religious or political persecution, while others just wanted to temporarily earn money and then return to their homelands. Europeans mostly left their homelands to escape religious persecution, like an example of the Jews who were having organized attacks on them. One of the big pull factors that people believed was the promise of a better life. Many immigrants also came because of the scarce land in Europe due to the massive increase of population, or because they thought America had plentiful jobs opportunities, or because men and women wanted independent lives. The Chinese and Japanese mostly came because the seeked fortunes sparked by the California Gold Rush, but realized that that was long over. Due to this, they turned to helping make the railroads, farming, mining, or domestic service. The Mexicans who immigrated to America came because jobs were scarce in their homelands, and they thought the industrial boom promised work for everyone. They also wanted to flee political turmoil and work on the farmland created by the 1902 National Reclamation Act. Immigrants faced many hardships when coming to America, like a difficult journey, admission to the United States through Ellis and Angel Islands, finding housing, transportation, and clean water, and especially actually getting a job. They also had problems with immigrant restrictions like nativism, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Gentlemen’s Agreement. Other problems included sanitation, crime from small law enforcement, and mass…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Children were forced to work by their families, who couldn’t make enough on their own to support them. People were earning low wages, which often were barely enough to feed themselves. There was no federal minimum wage, so workers would work for whatever wage they would find. It was very difficult for them to get a financial foothold and raise themselves out of the working class. In addition to low wages, workers often had very poor working conditions. They had to work in cramped workplaces that were unsanitary and often were fire hazards. In 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York killed 146 workers. There was only one unlocked stairwell down, and it was engulfed in flames. Workers crammed into the elevator, or tried to escape to the roof. Not only was the building not well equipped for people escaping a fire, but the emergency services were not ready for the catastrophe they had to deal with. The firefighters’ ladders were too short to reach the fire, and the ambulances had to make many trips back and forth to the hospital because they were so small. The conditions suffered by these workers were unjust, and would not be solved completely until much…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the Industrial Revolution children worked extreme hours in very bad working conditions for very low pay, even less than what adults were paid. The Idea was that children were useful as laborers because of their usually small size. It allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines where most adults wouldn’t fit. They were easier to control and manage compared to adults. These children were most likely working to help support their families…

    • 161 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The next group that was severely impacted by the industrialization was the children. Prior to the Revolution, children would work in their family home. Once the revolution begun, child labor become common; children worked long hours with few breaks. Children would be punished if they fell asleep, but the necessity of their wages was obvious (“Childhood” 1). Machines were thought to be the perfect size for children with small hands and fingers. Unfortunately, hands and feet would get caught, and children were easily injured. The environment in the factory was unhealthy; sickness from fumes was a norm. Grace Abbot, a Progressive Era reformer, attempted to pass the first child labor law in 1917 (“Children” 1). Congress struck down this legislation,…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the reasons for the growth of the US economy was Jefferson's Embargo Act, which halted trade with all foreign countries, and forced the country to industrialize, by forcing it to produce goods domestically it would normally import. A classic case of "supply and demand" was seen by this growth of the factory system and industry; as the demand for more factories increased, the labor supply decreased, inciting a need for factory owners to hire more workers. Many of these workers were filled from the immigrant and middle class. Shifting roles in society, young women as well as children worked and lived at factories, during which they were overworked and underpaid. After earning enough to aid add sufficiently to the family income, the women left work at the factory, and back to their roles as housewives and child rearers.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Late 19th Century

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Immigration from many parts of the world was over populating the cities. Immigrants from Western and Eastern Europe, Mexico, and China were flooding the streets of the cities. Coming to the United States in search for better opportunities, they came and discovered that it wasn't all that easy. The search for jobs was difficult, not too many jobs were available, those who were willing to work more hours for less pay would work. Trying to find a place where to live was difficult as well. Cities were too crowded and departments were overcrowded with an entire family and sometimes more than one family. Insecurity was everywhere and crime rates had risen because of the poor economy people were facing.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beginning in the early nineteenth century there were massive waves of immigration. Immigrants were mostly from Italy, Russia, and Ireland. There was a mixed reaction to these incoming foreigners. While they provided industries with a cheap source of labor, Americans were both afraid of, and hostile towards these new groups. They differed from the "typical American" in language, customs, and religion and took many jobs of Americans. Many individuals and industries alike played upon America's…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    apush immigration essay

    • 693 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The economy had such a great change after the millions of immigrants flooded the United States during the mid-19th century. In the north, where factories were common and slavery was abolished, the immigrants became a prime source of cheap labor in the factories. During this time, factories were being industrialized and factory owners were looking for workers. Factory owners hired immigrants because of how little they needed to pay them. This greatly increased the production of goods, which in the long run increased income. However, citizens of America were angered with the immigrants. They were able to easily get jobs while people who were living in America for years were still unemployed. This led to tension between the citizens and the immigrants. Citizens of the United States believed the immigrants from Europe should be hired as teachers or lawyers, jobs that needed higher levels of education, because Europeans were given the opportunity of education. Instead, the immigrants were taking factory jobs that did not need any education whatsoever.…

    • 693 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The industrialization movement in America was a very attractive incentive to migrate to the United States. “Record numbers of immigrants arrived in the United States, some 9 million from 1880 to 1900, and 13 million from 1900 to 1914” (1). Most people thought of the U.S. as a flagship for hope and economic gain. With the expansion of railroads, emergence of new technology, and vast supply of natural resources, opportunities were as high as ever. As cities populations grew, so did the diversity. The majority of immigrants came from mainly northern and western Europe. However, most immigrants found themselves living in dirty and crowded conditions while working in dangerous establishments.…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to the textbook it was "The promise of cheap land and good wages drew millions of immigrants to America." Most immigrants were poor and wanted the American dream of settling and getting an income. There were some Irish immigrants who at that time suffered from had a potato famine that happened leading them to poverty and economic damage. There were also some German immigrants that were mostly skilled craftsmen and have an educated profession such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, and engineers. Also, the American employers wanted to recruit foreigners since most of them were willing to work for lower wages than people who were born as Americans. However, when…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the essay, Immigration and MIgration, author Hasia Diner discusses the effect of immigrants on the United States during the late nineteenth century, especially with regard to their effect on industrialism. The late 1800s was a time of immense industrialization and the outbreak of monopolies controlled by robber barons like Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller. Diner argues that although these individuals controlled the industry, immigrants played an immense role in industrialization in that they provided the huge labor force which was required to run factories. Even with the development of technology which could help expedite the process of producing goods, a labor force was still required to run the machines. Immigrants during this era were flowing in by the millions from every corner of the globe. Diner…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Jungle Thesis

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The American Dream has been a great symbol for hope in the better for the immigrants presented by the author, Upton Sinclair. Upton Sinclair in the book, The Jungle, argued that the meatpacking industry in Packingtown had caused so many deaths, injuries, and corruptions which weakened the American Dream. Sinclair supported his argument by demonstrating the poor conditions of an immigrant couple, Jurgis and Ona, and their immigrant family through the use of pathos to bring out emotion of the evils of Packingtown, words to bring emphasis to the claim of the story, and symbolism to bring out the meaning of the title. Sinclair’s purpose was to argue that socialism was the best remedy for the corruptions that occurred in Packingtown in order to…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Immigrants came to America believing that there were wages and work and no religious or socio-economic persecution and they were facing Economic hardships, overpopulation and persecution in their home lands. During this time Immigrants were the major part of every industry. Because of a massive immigration of people from all over the world to the United States the US industries didn’t have an issue with labor work. During this time United States was also competing with other nations for Immigrant workers. Immigrants were mostly from Eastern and Southern Europe, Canada and Central America, and some from Asia.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An outburst in growth of America's big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic tensions were created. Religion, labor, and race relations were questioned; populist and progressive thoughts were developed; social Darwinism and nativism movements were launched.…

    • 2263 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays