Preview

Single Most Important Invention

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1093 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Single Most Important Invention
What do you think was the single most important invention of the Industrial Revolution?Why and what impact did it have? Be specific.

I strongly believe that the single most important invention of the Industrial Revolution was alternating electric current (AC current) . AC current, invented by Nikola Tesla, is involved in everything around us today. From outlets and electric heat to a majority of common household appliances, AC current is seen in a large portion of what we today consider as “everyday items”. While certain people, such as Henry Ford, have only invented an apparatus with one purpose, Nikola Tesla invented a way to transport energy, therefore creating many different ways to use the invention. Certain tools, for example a lamp, are weak and inefficient when using a direct current. By using alternating current it …show more content…
Upton Sinclair famously considered The Jungle to be a failure because it didn’t do enough to help the conditions of the working poor. Do you agree with this sentiment Not at all. While perhaps the changes did not occur as quickly as Upton Sinclair would have liked, his work helped produce significant changes in conditions for workers, as well as the food and goods they were producing. Between unions and legal protections, the workplace of today might be something Upton Sinclair would be pleased with. The Jungle was one of the key influences that led to the government make sure food is safely produced nationwide. They did this by regulating the amount of various harmful content in certain content that can be in each good. In addition, Sinclair and other muckrakers helped expose the awful working conditions that the working poor endured on a daily basis. In addition, many children were working in these awful conditions as well. Sinclair helped change public opinion and generate support for changes nation wide for the working poor. In those days, there was not even a minimum wage and people worked far more than 40 hours a
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Sinclair and Dante: Packingtown, Chicago and the Nine Circles of Hell
    • 2573 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Sinclair and Dante: Packingtown, Chicago and the Nine Circles of Hell

    When thinking of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, many immediately picture the grotesque meat that was being packaged and sent out to the families all over the state and country. That is because of the paragraph about the meats, where Sinclair writes of the spoiled meat used as sausage; the many chemicals used to change color, flavor, and odor; and removing the bone from bad smoked hams, where a white-hot iron was placed instead. The bad meats were sold under false pretenses, and most of the time it worked. Boneless hams were odds and ends of pork, California hams were shoulders and knuckle joints, and skinned hams were made from old hogs (142). That passage so angered President Roosevelt that he had the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act passed, which had harsher laws regarding the meats that could be used. “‘I aimed at the public’s heart,’ said Sinclair, ‘and by accident I hit in the stomach’” (McCage). He said that because he was instead hoping to expose the poor working conditions and hopefully promote socialism. The workers in Packingtown were given very low wages; not even eighteen cents an hour (Sinclair 44)! They were treated very poorly and were given no sympathy for sickness or death. For example, Ona was dislike by her forelady after asking for a holiday to get married (112). Although it was not allowed to happen, bosses would blacklist workers, keeping them from ever getting a job (208). The working…

    • 2573 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Critiquing The Meat-Packing Industry In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 97 Words
    • 1 Page

    Critiquing The Meat-Packing Industry In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a three-hundred and seventy page, descriptive and touching political fiction critiquing the social and economic inequality of work in the meat-packing industry during the early 1900’s. The book follows the life of Jurgis Rudkus, a poor immigrant who, along with his many family members, move to Chicago to live the "American Dream". However theses Lithuanian American dream are quickly crushed as work in the meat-packing industry has only given them intolerable levels of hardship such as death, injuries, scams, rape, and injustice. The Rudkus innocence and desperation causes many frustrations and…

    • 97 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Primary Resource Analysis Of The Jungle
    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Primary Resource Analysis Of The Jungle

    In February 1906, the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group published the novel called The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This novel exposed the plight of immigrants working in Chicago’s meatpacking industry. It depicted the severe working conditions of the meatpacking industries employees in Chicago and also described the unsanitary factory conditions that they had to work through during a daily basis. For example, some of the unacceptable conditions that were described were the mislabeled canned meats, meat supplies contaminated by human remains, thousands of rats, and water from leaky roofs dripping over the meat. This is just one of many horrific conditions that were going on in Chicago. All of these alarming conditions…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    The factories were extremely unsanitary, there were numerous injuries, and dangerous working conditions. Sinclair depicts the gruesome aspects of factory labor, such as human limbs getting caught in the machines and still being packaged along with the other meat. "The Jungle" changed the way food is distributed now, after the novel was published the FDA (food and drug administration) was established to inspect food quality.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Harsh And Inhumane Living Conditions In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 84 Words
    • 1 Page

    Harsh And Inhumane Living Conditions In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    The Jungle was an 1906 novel written by author Upton Sinclair. The book was wrote to help portray all the harsh and inhumane living conditions. It also exploited to unsanitary conditions of the meat factories and meat packing industries…

    • 84 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Who Is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: A Critique Of Socialism
    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Who Is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: A Critique Of Socialism

    Upton Sinclair has famously remarked, “All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.” These words are especially befitting for Sinclair’s most famous novel, The Jungle. Sinclair’s novel follows the devastating collapse of an immigrant Lithuanian family as a result of the ruthless practices of capitalism. Thus, The Jungle is a severe critique of capitalism, and it possesses the intention of persuading readers to adopt the views of the socialism. With this objective in mind, the book has been heavily classified as a piece of socialist propaganda by many critics. Sinclair’s goal to convert readers to socialism failed for the most part, however, but the novel did help pass landmark legislation dealing with food safety conditions. The Jungle as a piece of socialist propaganda ultimately fails as the result of various factors including Sinclair’s biased argument against capitalism,…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lit Analysis Of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lit Analysis Of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    Workers and citizens today have Upton Sinclair to thank for the improved working conditions and higher regulations in the food industry. In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair uses vivid imagery and figurative language to expose the extremely unpleasant working conditions of immigrants and the Capitalist ideology of early 1900’s Chicago . A large Lithuanian family comes to Chicago in hopes for better life and work. The main character Jurgis is eager to work after a new marriage with his wife, Ona. The family of twelve quickly realizes that things are not quite what they seem. They are struck with hunger, poverty, injury, and death on multiple occasions.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Power Of The Industrial Age In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Power Of The Industrial Age In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    In The Jungle , Upton Sinclair shows The corruption of the Industrial Age through his depiction of working conditions, wages, and living conditions.…

    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism And Motifs In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Symbolism And Motifs In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    Many works of literature deals with political issues or social issues. One such work of literature is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. The author uses symbolism and motifs to show the overarching theme of his book, the evils of capitalism. The author writes about corruption time and time again as a tool used by the powerful in a capitalistic society. As Jurgis and his family continue to live in Packingtown, believing they can be part of the realization American Dream, they find themselves slipping deeper into the corruption and immorality surrounding them. Jurgis, and through his eyes the viewer, witnesses the packaging of tuberculosis ridden beef, the overworking and death of many of Jurgis's family, and even the rape of Jurgis's wife at the hands…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Capitalism! Écrasez l'Infâme (Crush the Infamy)
    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Capitalism! Écrasez l'Infâme (Crush the Infamy)

    In The Jungle, he presented the reader with the Rudkus family who encountered a great deal of strife and anguish, through which the evils of American capitalism were portrayed. Upton Sinclair strongly believed in the power of the Socialist party as means of reform, so that the working class would finally have a fair chance of survival against the harsh realms of society. By havocking America 's supposed capitalist induced problems upon Jurgis and his family, Upton Sinclair used The Jungle as means of socialist promotional propaganda.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Socialism Exposed In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Socialism Exposed In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    Large corporations existed that would take advantage over people who would come to America for a better life. They would commit fraud on them or trick them into becoming their “slave workers” because they were new and vulnerable. As a result, he decided to write about the way these families were deceived and how they eventually ended up homeless, starving, or dead. Children were also taken advantage of and they had to work long hours to the point where sometimes they would not see daylight. There were no limits on the amount of hours a child received. These children were stuck in dirty factories all day that interfered with their health because of all the dangerous machinery and chemicals that were involved. Sinclair also exposed these conditions his book in hope to bring attention to these types of issues. They ended up setting limitations on how many hours a child can work and for how long. The harsh conditions and extreme vivid imagery he used in his book led to new government regulations and laws. The large corporations were motivated by their self interests and did not care for the people. Sinclair hoped to turn people into socialism by frightening the people about the issues that were going on specifically the food industry because that affected mostly…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Meat Inspection By Gabriel Kolko Analysis
    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Meat Inspection By Gabriel Kolko Analysis

    The young man was known as Upton Sinclair and traveled to Chicago to write about the life of the working class. Sinclair attacked the working conditions of the meat packing industry with newspaper articles but the situation was left unnoticed until a copy of a Sinclair’s publication was sent to President Roosevelt. “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair, contained reports of the unsanitary conditions and the horrible images he had witnessed during seven weeks of observing Chicago’s meat packing houses. Sinclair got the attention of the nation, especially with reports that included a section of how meat packing houses treated diseased meat. The report stated that the smell of diseased meat was masked by applying kerosene in order to pass the current standards before reaching the public. The report became a much bigger issue then Sinclair claimed that such meat did in fact reach the public killing more American soldiers than the Spanish-American war. This was a time of muckrakers and Sinclair was considered one of them, having a huge influence on investigations of corrupt industries and exposing to America harmful meat products, thus resulting in new government regulations and laws. Sinclair’s reports and horrible descriptions of filth and blood also influenced a decrease of almost half…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Living Conditions Of Immigrants In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Living Conditions Of Immigrants In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    Upton Sinclair wrote the novel The Jungle in hopes that the readers would be awakened to the terrible living conditions of immigrants in the cities around the turn of the century. His goal was to document the inhumane treatment of the working men and women in the industrial capitalism speaking out specifically about the unsanitary conditions in the Chicago meat-packing industry. During the period of industrialization at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth, millions of poverty-stricken immigrants that flocked to the United States met with terrible working conditions and barely livable wages. Also, they encountered hostility and racism from the citizens of their new homeland. Their unfamiliar cultural beliefs and practices were viewed as a threat to the traditional…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Role Of Child Labor In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Role Of Child Labor In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    The early twentieth century was a ferocious time, though we can't immediately think of a time in American history that has been peaceful. Upton Sinclair, in his novel, The Jungle, an expose of the meatpacking industry, became an enormous bestseller translated into seventeen languages within weeks of its publication in 1906. But while The Jungle has long been associated with food production, the book is actually a much broader critique of early twentieth-century business and labor practices in the rapidly growing cities of the United States.…

    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Role Of Socialism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Role Of Socialism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    The Jungle is written by the author Upton Sinclair in the era of Industrial Revolution, where many immigrants are moving to the United States with the expectation of living “American Dream”. The novel is situated in Chicago in the area of largest slaughtering and meat packaging industries. Even though this book touched hearts of many people, it was not meant to be just a story for one to read and feel compassion, but Sinclair wanted to open eyes of many people to show the greed of capitalism and how it gives politicians and businessman the power to crush immigrant lives. So ultimately wanted to refine the political system from capitalism to socialism. “The Socialists were organized in every civilized nation.” (315) The novel starts with the wedding of a young man, Jurgis, a…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics