Industrialization

      Industrialization was when the making of things went from being hand made to being made with machines. Industrialization made a huge impact on, not only the growth of America, but also the growth of the world. The amount of things that are done by machines has grown immensely. It has helped bring in money, things became cheaper, easier to get, and the process of making things was sped up a lot. Although there were many positive changes from industrialization, there was also changes that had a negative impact. Due to the quick growth of factories, there was a lot of air pollution from the smoke that was filling the air. Many people had different opinions on industrialization and how it was effecting America. People like Henry George were for industrialization because he thought it would end poverty, which was a big problem in America at this time. Another group of people, including David A. Wells believed that machines were taking away jobs from people, because machines were faster and easier than hand made objects. Finally, Andrew Carnegie who really enjoyed the idea of industrialization because things were made easier, like the transporting of goods. As an industrial worker, life would be really tough because the respect that the owners and bosses had for workers was very low once machines were brought into the picture. Although it was a hard transition in America, I am very glad that industrialization did occur, as we would not be where we are today without it.

The Jungle

Skye Burket

1. Sinclair believes that the qualities people needed to have in order to succeed in working in the Packingtown’s was the ability to mind your own business and just do their work, without any distractions. People working in Packingtown’s generally had no loyalty or decency. The young man, Jurgis Redkus realized that to succeed in working at these Packingtown’s, the work didn’t matter it was all about who you knew and how you associated yourself with these people.

2. The Plant Owner’s main goal was to make as much money as they possibly could. It didn’t matter how they made that money, or who it hurt, they just did everything in their power to make lots of money.

3. When Sinclair says “...there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar…” he means that the workers didn’t matter to them at all because the money was more important than anything else.

Fortunately, the Meat Packing industry has changed a  lot since the 1900’s due to how poor working conditions were, and how many people were injured or killed while working for these factories. The most common thing that happens are cuts from knives and other big machinery. Industries today are inspected almost daily to ensure that places are safe enough for workers, and also owners are a lot more careful and aware of the things that could happen while working for these industries.