The Industrial Revolution

Although America inherited certain technologies and traditions from Europe, it still began its evolution as a country from a society based on agriculture towards one revolving around industrial production of goods. Starting in England, the Industrial Revolution of the 1800's ultimately transformed the world both culturally and technologically, and brought new perspectives of living to the United States; but its influence included both positive development and moral regression.

Food Industry

Food Adulterations in America (1800's) cited by British scientist Accum and partner:
  • "Black Pepper: Common adulterants or contaminates were gravel, leaves, twigs, stalks, pepper dust, linseed meal, or various ground plant materials.
  • Essential Oils: Adulterated with turpentine or other oils, or alcohol.
  • Vinegar: Adulterated with sulfuric acid.
  • Lemon juice: Adulterated with sulfuric or other acids.
  • Coffee: Adulterated with roasted grains, roasted carrots, scorched beans and peas; or baked horse liver
  • Tea: Adulterated with already used tea leaves that were dried, and leaves of other plants besides tea.
  • Milk: Adulterated mainly with water, but sometimes chalk, starch, gums, or soda were added. Preserved with borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, sodium salicylate, potassium nitrate, sodium fluoride, and benzoate. Colors added such as turmeric, annato (like used in butter), saffron*, caramel, and sulfonated dyes.
  • Beer: Adulterated with the concentrated extract of poisonous berries called Cocculus indicus, called "Black extract." Gave flavor and other intoxicating and/or narcotic properties, plus made the beverage toxic.
  • Sugar: Adulterated or contaminated with sand, dust, lime, pulp (presumable from raw sugar cane), and coloring matters (undefined)."

Medical Industry & Public Health 

"Throughout the 1800's, in an era of limited physician tools for treating illness that had been scrutinized and supported by empirical evidence and the scientific method, an increasingly urbane population in the United States developed an appetite for medical elixirs. Marketed through exoticism, mystery, and grandiose claims of efficacy, these medicines claimed to cure everything from cancer, venereal disease, female troubles, stomach aches, and epilepsy. One product sold widely in the late 1800's and early 20th century, William Radam's Microbe Killer, boldly declared on the label 'Cures all diseases,' while Dr. Sibley advertised that his Solar Tincture was even able to 'restore life in the event of sudden death.' In fact, these products often simply relied upon opiates, cocaine, or alcohol...to make imbibers feel better or 'cured;' however, in many cases, they contained toxic ingredients such as acetanilide or cresyl phosphate (an organophosphate causing nerve paralysis)." (Society of Toxicology) 
"The Industrial Revolution has tended to produce everywhere great urban masses that seem to be increasingly careless of ethical standards"-Irving Babbitt
As Babbit claims, ethical standards in America's new expanding food and medical industry were mostly abandoned as profit and success in business became the primary concern. Responsibility of commercial honesty was disregarded, and the consumers' rights to choice of consumption was completely lost.