This photograph, taken in 1898, depicts Theodore Roosevelt (in the center, in front of the American flag) and the Rough Riders Cavalry unit he commanded. Roosevelt's distrust of the meatpackers reached as far back as the Spanish-American War, when packers had sold the American army quantities of rotten and chemically adulterated meats that caused the deaths of some of his men. Humorist Finley Peter Dunne took note of the situation -- as well as the disorganized state of the regular army -- when his fictional Irish bartender, Mr. Dooley, remarked on the invincible American army of "injineers, miners, plumbers, an' lawn tinnis experts, numberin' in all four hundhred an' eighty thousand men," sent to do battle against the Spanish "ar-rmed with death-dealin' canned goods." As you examine this picture, consider the ways in which photographs such as this one could have been used to sway political and public support for the reform of the meat packing industry.

Investigate the source using the zoom and navigational tools in the Flash player and then answer the questions below.

1			Discuss the ways you think pictures such as this one might be used to shift political opinion.
2			The composition of the troops is balanced to draw attention to the flag and to Roosevelt. What is the mood that the men in this image convey? Do you think this was an effective arrangement?
3			Closely examine this photograph. If you had no other information about this image, what could you deduce about the people in the photograph? Be sure to include some discussion -- with specific examples -- on what they were doing and where they were.