Originally serialized in nineteen parts in McClure's magazine, the book is a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust laws in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries.
Due to the creation of the cotton gin, slave labor increased thus making them work more to pick cotton to sell otherwise resulting in the rise of cloth production.
