The Meat Packing Act
(Political)
1906
What is it?
The meat packing act was also known as the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This act was a federal law that could condemn any meat product that was thought unfit for the consumption of humans. The inspections were done by the Secretary of Agriculture and were focused on protecting the diet of Americans. There is an article from the book called The Jungle Vs. Fast Food Nation that describes the life of workers in the meat packing industry. The workers work long hours every day which can be dangerous if they were to become tired and accidentally hurt themselves or others on the machinery. They also are around very dangerous equipment. The article talked about how there were these boiling pools on the ground where workers worked around and how one man fell into one. The pool was used for making processed and canned meat products so when other workers processed the meat to find the man who fell in they didn't find anything. So the worker who fell in went out as part of the processed meat. Another part of the work description was at an assembly line where workers would grab pieces of meat from a conveyor belt and chop off pieces into smaller ones at a very fast rate. Many of the workers on this part of the assembly line had missing fingers from the knives they used to chop the meat up with. Another job description was a person who chopped large cattle in half with a knife. This was very dangerous because it was a sharp blade and it put a lot of strain on the workers back. This was also a very disgusting job because they would be standing in blood from the cattle. Many more jobs were described in the article and everything the article said gave a huge reason as to why inspections should take place in order to make sure that the meat processed from the meat packing plants are healthy for humans to eat.
Why is it important?
The Meat Packing Act was important because Americans would be eating these foods processed by the meat packing plants and if they ever knew what could possibly be in them (a person) then they would be outraged and never eat from there again. So if there were inspections the meat would be healthier for humans to eat. Another reason why the Meat Packing Act was important because the jobs of workers were very dangerous and very brutal do be dealing with every day. So if inspections took place in the meat packing industries then maybe another idea about how the job could get done which would be safer for the workers and for the people eating the meat could be made.
Is it a progress?
This Meat Packing Act is a huge progress in the meat packing industries. Without this act then there would be no inspections in factories which would only mean that owners of large businesses would not care what was going into the meats. All they cared about was their money the earned from the products of meat packing industries. The Meat Packing Act is a progress in history because now meat is healthier and less dangerous for the workers. This benefited all Americans and even the owners of the businesses because they probably ate meat too.
Leading to...
The Meat Packing Act helps lead to Imperialism because this helped the government have control over all meat packing industries in the country. The Imperialism era was when political power was brought upon a nation for the good of the people. In the meat packing act the government had power to control meat packing industries by having inspections to make sure that the Americans had healthy food to eat.
The meat packing act was also known as the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This act was a federal law that could condemn any meat product that was thought unfit for the consumption of humans. The inspections were done by the Secretary of Agriculture and were focused on protecting the diet of Americans. There is an article from the book called The Jungle Vs. Fast Food Nation that describes the life of workers in the meat packing industry. The workers work long hours every day which can be dangerous if they were to become tired and accidentally hurt themselves or others on the machinery. They also are around very dangerous equipment. The article talked about how there were these boiling pools on the ground where workers worked around and how one man fell into one. The pool was used for making processed and canned meat products so when other workers processed the meat to find the man who fell in they didn't find anything. So the worker who fell in went out as part of the processed meat. Another part of the work description was at an assembly line where workers would grab pieces of meat from a conveyor belt and chop off pieces into smaller ones at a very fast rate. Many of the workers on this part of the assembly line had missing fingers from the knives they used to chop the meat up with. Another job description was a person who chopped large cattle in half with a knife. This was very dangerous because it was a sharp blade and it put a lot of strain on the workers back. This was also a very disgusting job because they would be standing in blood from the cattle. Many more jobs were described in the article and everything the article said gave a huge reason as to why inspections should take place in order to make sure that the meat processed from the meat packing plants are healthy for humans to eat.
Why is it important?
The Meat Packing Act was important because Americans would be eating these foods processed by the meat packing plants and if they ever knew what could possibly be in them (a person) then they would be outraged and never eat from there again. So if there were inspections the meat would be healthier for humans to eat. Another reason why the Meat Packing Act was important because the jobs of workers were very dangerous and very brutal do be dealing with every day. So if inspections took place in the meat packing industries then maybe another idea about how the job could get done which would be safer for the workers and for the people eating the meat could be made.
Is it a progress?
This Meat Packing Act is a huge progress in the meat packing industries. Without this act then there would be no inspections in factories which would only mean that owners of large businesses would not care what was going into the meats. All they cared about was their money the earned from the products of meat packing industries. The Meat Packing Act is a progress in history because now meat is healthier and less dangerous for the workers. This benefited all Americans and even the owners of the businesses because they probably ate meat too.
Leading to...
The Meat Packing Act helps lead to Imperialism because this helped the government have control over all meat packing industries in the country. The Imperialism era was when political power was brought upon a nation for the good of the people. In the meat packing act the government had power to control meat packing industries by having inspections to make sure that the Americans had healthy food to eat.