The Impact Of The Muckrakers On The US Progressive Reforms: A Case Study Of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle

The rapid pace of industrialization and urbanization in the US at the turn of the20thcentury brought about a wide array of social problems, including politicalcorruption, economic monopoly, food and medicine safety issues, child labor, unpaidwages, poor working conditions of workers and farmers, the widening gap betweenthe rich and the poor, environmental pollution, and a chaos in social values. As areaction to these problems, the Progressive Movement, led by American intellectualsand widely supported by the middle class, crystallized into reforms which rectifiedmany of the ills of American society. Its legacy continues to affect the lives ofAmericans today.This thesis focuses on the study of the role played by the muckrakers inpromoting US Progressive reforms through an inter-disciplinary analysis of thespecific case of Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle. The author contends that themuckrakers played an inspiring role in pressuring the government to launch reformsand pushing forward the Progressive Movement. The disclosures of social evils bymuckraking journalists led to public outcry, governmental and legal investigations,and, in some cases, the enactment of new laws introduced to address the disclosedproblems. For instance, The Jungle is credited with getting passed the1906Pure Foodand Drug Act, which established the Bureau of Chemistry that would become theFood and Drug Administration in1930. As a result, American consumers wouldn’thave to worry about food safety any more. This case exemplifies how muckrakerspromoted Progressive reforms, which cured many of the social ills caused by rapidindustrialization and enabled the US to successfully pull through that problematicperiod of transition without the intensification of social conflicts and the occurrenceof a possible revolution.