Literature is highly influential in society.

I agree with your wish to narrow the scope to American novels and American society. In regards to my opponent's qualms concerning Uncle Tom's Cabin: I concede that there were a multitude of more important factors that proved influential in the beginning of the Civil War, and you are correct in your assertion that the abolitionist movement was not a widespread one. My oppoent is also correct that the Republican platform, prior to the Civil War, was to stop the spread of slavery (in order to preserve the Union, which was Abraham Lincoln's wish as well). However, during the course of the Civil War, the Republican platform experienced a monumental shift. Lincoln, among others, saw that to win the war, the issue of slavery would have to be diverted from strictly a matter of states' rights to one of morality. The Republican platform shifted to a stance that regarded slavery as immoral (Christianity was a large influence in this). Incidentally, the major precedence for this shift to morality, with strong ties to Christianity, was, by and large, Uncle Tom's Cabin. I apologize if I did not make this clear in my earlier argument. In regards to The Jungle:I apologize, but I have to call out a major factual error. Yes, The Jungle was published on February 28, 1906. However, the Pure Food and Drug Act passed Congress on June 30, 1906. As for the Meat Inspection Act, my opponent mentions European refusal to recognize US meatpacking laws. This is true, of meat inspection laws passed prior to the Meat Inspection Act, but every source I have read makes it very clear that the act was the result of pressure by the American public in response to the book, coupled with Roosevelt's investigation, which was also prompted by the book. European influence is never mentioned in association with that particular piece of legislation. If I may be presumptuous, can I ask if my opponent used "Meat Inspection: Theory and Reality," by Gabriel Kolko, as a source? If so, then Kolko also makes it clear that, while the meat inspection movement was the result of European pressures, the Meat Inspection Act was really not. (Kolko asserts that the views of the public were misguided, and questions the legitimacy of the "reform movement" as well as brings up the issue that the meatpackers themselves were not in opposition of regulation legislation and the act was passed relatively painfully. Kolko, however, never denies that the novel created a controversy that Roosevelt, though he made no action upon first reading the novel, was forceably dragged into). My opponent also states that Roosevelt investigated the meatpacking industry between 1904 and 1906. If my opponent means the investigation commissioned by the Neill-Reynold's Report, which then led to the Meat Inspection Act, then my opponent again has again misreported their dates. The report was conditioned by Roosevelt shortly after March of 1906 (as cited in Kolko's article), in direct response to the allegations made by Sinclair. Though the true influence of Uncle Tom's Cabin is certainly debatable, such as the startling complexity of the Civil War, the fact remains that The Jungle was, in fact, the primary reason for the passage of the aforementioned two acts. Without the publication of The Jungle, it is reasonable from a historical standpoint to assume that those two acts would not have been passed (I am not saying that similar legislation would not have been passed at a later date, but those two acts would not have been passed). Thus, that novel was the primary force in the passage of legislation that had a major effect on the food industry in the United States, something that certainly effects the majority of its citizens. If that is not highly influential, then I do not know what is. As for Uncle Tom's Cabin, it is facetious to make the assumption that the Civil War would not have turned out the way it did without the novel, which is why the level of influence of that novel is debatable. In any case, I have defended the influence of The Jungle, but if I might I would like to present another book that has been influential on American society, this being Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Rather than being written specifically as an instrument for social or political change, as the previous two novels were, Kerouac's novel was highly influential in the facet of society that was American Culture. Kerouac coined the term "beat generation" and utilized it in his novel. From this novel came the "beatnik" stereotype, and with it an entire cultural movement reflected in television, movies, etc. of the time. Many radical student movements cited the novel as an influence, and Bob Dylan claimed that the novel inspired him to write protest music. Civil right opponents as well as proponents utilized the novel in order to support their platform. Coupled with Allen Ginsberg's Howl (another piece of literature), the novel effectively created an entire cultural movement in the United States.