The Slaughterhouse
The Slaughterhouse
Student #: 196012
HST 340 American Social History
Sean Christy
March 5, 2009
The Slaughterhouse
Catalyst
“The Jungle” (Sinclair, 1946) peaked my interest in how meat was processed, stored, and shipped to consumers. Initially Sinclair was paid to write an expose for a socialist magazine to find incriminating information on the establishment The Durham Slaughterhouse in particular had drawn attention because its employees had went on a strike, due to bad conditions where the pay did not match the skills or risk that were taken. Subsequently, the employees did not gain anything from the strike, but the exposure opened the eyes of the public. Sinclair infiltrated the slaughterhouse and wrote an article that was so thought provoking to the American public that he turned the expose into a book. Sinclair, who was a socialist, began his quest because he wanted to expose the economic depression that the slaughterhouse had allowed its employees to sink into. While the owners were getting richer the employees were getting poorer everyday. The employees had no stake in the company but their lives were being shortened due to the accidents and strenuous task that was taking place.
The poverty level of the workers that were employed at the slaughterhouse was the basis of all the events that manifested beginning with the strike. However, Sinclair himself said that “he had taken aim at America’s heart and bit instead its stomach. Evidently the empty stomachs of the immigrants that were portrayed in the book mattered less to the public than its own, which it feared might be filled with packing-house wastes mixed with food” (Sinclair 1946). People were informed of the travesty that was happening to the employees however, the detail of the manufacturing process was what was most interesting. This started an avalanche of concern, not for the employees but for the process in which their food was handled.
Historical
Student #: 196012
HST 340 American Social History
Sean Christy
March 5, 2009
The Slaughterhouse
Catalyst
“The Jungle” (Sinclair, 1946) peaked my interest in how meat was processed, stored, and shipped to consumers. Initially Sinclair was paid to write an expose for a socialist magazine to find incriminating information on the establishment The Durham Slaughterhouse in particular had drawn attention because its employees had went on a strike, due to bad conditions where the pay did not match the skills or risk that were taken. Subsequently, the employees did not gain anything from the strike, but the exposure opened the eyes of the public. Sinclair infiltrated the slaughterhouse and wrote an article that was so thought provoking to the American public that he turned the expose into a book. Sinclair, who was a socialist, began his quest because he wanted to expose the economic depression that the slaughterhouse had allowed its employees to sink into. While the owners were getting richer the employees were getting poorer everyday. The employees had no stake in the company but their lives were being shortened due to the accidents and strenuous task that was taking place.
The poverty level of the workers that were employed at the slaughterhouse was the basis of all the events that manifested beginning with the strike. However, Sinclair himself said that “he had taken aim at America’s heart and bit instead its stomach. Evidently the empty stomachs of the immigrants that were portrayed in the book mattered less to the public than its own, which it feared might be filled with packing-house wastes mixed with food” (Sinclair 1946). People were informed of the travesty that was happening to the employees however, the detail of the manufacturing process was what was most interesting. This started an avalanche of concern, not for the employees but for the process in which their food was handled.
Historical
References: 1. Marcus, R. D., Burner, D., Marcus, A. (2007). Conditions at the Slaughterhouse., In M. Dougherty (Ed.), America Firsthand (7th ed., pp. 119 - 126). Boston, MA: Bedford, St Martin. 2. Sinclair, U. (1946). The Jungle., (5th Ed.) New York, NY: Viking Penguin. 3. MEATPACKING. (2000). In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Farmington, MI: Thomson Gale. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6890804/gale01035. 4. Animal by-products premises. (2007, September). A-Z of Food Safety, Retrieved February 9, 2009, from Points of View Reference Center database. Persistent link to this record (Permalink): http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=32044664&site=pov-live 5. FEINSTEIN-ON-USDA, (2008, March), Meat Recall. Retrieved January 29, 2009 Points of View Reference Center Persistent link to this record (Permalink): http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=32X2415447041&site=pov-live.