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Difficulty: EasyProgressive Era Reforms and Influences

Source: Upton Sinclair, *The Jungle*, 1906

"There would be meat that had tumbled on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs. There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and pull off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together."

Which of the following was a direct result of the publication of the work excerpted above?

  1. A
    The deregulation of large-scale meatpackers to encourage free-market competition
  2. B
    The establishment of government-controlled agricultural cooperatives to set crop prices
  3. The passage of federal legislation to regulate food safety and consumer productsAnswer
  4. D
    The creation of a federal retirement pension program for industrial workers

Answer

The passage of federal legislation to regulate food safety and consumer products
The correct option is correct because the horrific, unsanitary conditions exposed in Upton Sinclair's muckraking novel *The Jungle* shocked the American public and President Theodore Roosevelt. This directly pressured Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 to establish federal oversight and standards for food safety and consumer goods.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus to identify the author, source, and core topic.
The text is an excerpt from Upton Sinclair's *The Jungle* (1906), detailing unsanitary and dangerous conditions in the meatpacking industry.
Identifying the document helps place the question in the correct historical context of the Progressive Era muckrakers.
2
Recall the major historical impact and legislative outcomes of Upton Sinclair's novel.
The public outcry from *The Jungle* prompted President Theodore Roosevelt and Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
This establishes the direct causal link between the publication and the resulting government reform.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the option that matches this outcome.
The option proposing federal legislation to regulate food safety and consumer products is the correct choice.
This option directly identifies the consumer protection laws that were enacted as a result of Sinclair's muckraking.

Key Concept

Muckrakers and Consumer Protection Legislation
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Topics

Progressive Era Reforms and Influences

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