The Federal Government in the Progressive Era The Progressive Era was a period in which the federal government increased its legislation and its grasp of the nation. There were three distinct pieces of federal legislation that seem to stick out, The Meat Inspection Act The Federal Reserve Act,, and The Hepburn Act. All of this legislation gave the government an extremely large amount of power to regulate business and industry as well as the people of the United States of America. The first of the legislation of the federal government in this time was the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The Meat Inspection Act required the federal inspection of meats that were headed for interstate commerce and this gave much power to the big bosses of the Agriculture Department. The powers that this act endowed to the big bosses of the Department of Agriculture was to set the standards or the sanitary conditions. This Act basically gives the government the power to say what is sanitary and safe and what is …show more content…
The Hepburn Act which was enacted in 1906 set a precedent for the power of the federal government. The Hepburn Act set a maximum price for the freight rates on the railroads. It also extended the reach of the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulation of pipelines, freight companies, sleeping-car companies, bridges and ferries. As well, the Hepburn Act did not make the ICC go to the court to enforce its regulation decisions. This act was passed mainly under the dedication of President Roosevelt. After 1905, he dedicated his efforts to the greater regulation of and control over the big businesses. His regulations over them angered his corporate sponsors. But that really did not matter to the President because this act set a precedent for the quality of big business as well as setting a fairness level so that the little guy could survive and live the American
However, that was not the case. When The Jungle was presented to the public, readers were astonished by the disgusting and unsanitary state in which the meat was being processed in. The community was more concerned with the meat conditions than they were with the horrific conditions the workers were faced with. So while the popularity of Sinclair’s work was not his original intentions, it still accomplished stages of reform. It can be assumed that Roosevelts initial reluctance to accept Sinclair’s novel was in part, directly connected to his disbelief that the Federal government had become so disconnected and oblivious to American industry and the complete lack of Federal oversight. This “disconnect” did not last long as The Pure Food and Drug Act, as well as, the Meat Inspection Act were both directly set in to place mere months after Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle was published. This type of reform supported progressive philosophy by preventing corporate owners from remaining above government regulation and started a trend in the way government regulators began to deal with corporate monopolies and trusts. The Jungle, along with other “muckrakers” began a series of Federal oversight reforms and regulatory guidance that soon began to take hold in other industries. Big industry would soon realize that they were not above the
During the Progressive Era, pressure from labor, suffrage, and conservation movements profoundly changed the course of American history. Many of the reformers' ideas clashed with the male-dominated, capitalist economic structure present at the turn of the century. Some of the intended reforms opposed the current system, but the level of social unrest necessitated change. Businessmen and activists alike initiated the reforms during the Progressive Era. Government, due to the intention of calming the common man and quieting the seemingly more and more vocal middle class, supported them. In the final analysis, from the year 1900 to 1920, Progressive Era reformers were successful in bringing about reform to the United States.
The beginning of Meat Inspection Act seemed to be at 1904, after “The Jungle” of Sinclair published. In fact, it started twenty years earlier, the regular law, used to satisfy Europe, the largest meat export market, but in 1865 Congress passed an act to prevent the importation of diseased cattle and pigs. Because of disease, European like Italian, French, and English restricted or banned the importation meat, and they turned to another supplier. Some bills were introduced but they failed to gather sufficient support. May 1884, Bureau of Animal Industry was established, it was doing good job in fighting Europe restrictions, helping the packers, but not helping the domestic consumers. March 1891, the first major meat inspection law was passed; some country removed the prohibitions on importing American pork. It distressed the European packing industry as well. So, they imposed more standards. Government had to do more action; major percent meat slaughtered was inspected. Some of companies exploited the law, but most of them, especially big companies agreed with the committee in 1902. In 1904, Smith, who was a great information aid to Sinclair, published a series of articles in The Lancet...
In 1906, socialist Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a book he hoped would awaken the American people to the deplorable conditions of workers in the meat packing industry. Instead, the book sent the country reeling with its description of filthy, rat infested plants, suspect meats processed and sold to consumers, and corrupt government inspectors. President Roosevelt became seriously concerned by the charges brought forth by Mr. Sinclair and determined the only way to protect consumers from unscrupulous business and unsafe food was to enforce regulation.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the early 1900s? The turn of the century left Americans feeling more optimistic about life (Woog 4). People were honest and kind (Woog 5). The 1900s can be remembered as a happy time, but also a time of hardship for some Americans (Woog 5). Theodore Roosevelt, President 1901-1910, guided America in a way in which he created laws to help the social and economic problems of the time as well as improving politics by being a strong leader and recognizing the true needs of the country.
He helped expose the problems within the meat packing industry. He is mostly known for his book, “The Jungle”. Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meatpacking industry. “Sinclair wrote that meat for canning and sausage was piled on the floor before workers carried it off in carts holding sawdust, human spit and urine, rat dung, rat poison, and even dead rats. His most famous description of a meatpacking horror concerned a man who fell into steaming lard vats”(Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'). Within his writings he described diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat, which shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws (Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'). After this, president Roosevelt was able to write a letter to congress and make the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'). This stopped any bad or mislabeled meat to enter the market for consumption (Upton Sinclair's 'The
The Progressive era was the most crucial time period where federal government intervention was necessary. Before the Progressive era started in 1890, the federal government crackdown monopolies that were going on, they focused on railroad companies first because workers and farmers were mistreated because the workers did not
Where did some of modern America's issues originate from? The answer to that is the Progressive Era. The Legislation of that era laid all of the groundwork for today, and much of it is still in public debate today. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, three of the presidents from that era, all played roles in the groundwork. These presidents passed acts, tariffs, and amendments that are still with us, and debated today.
Reformers known as Progressives attempted to undo the problems caused by industrialization. The Progressive movement sought to end the influence of large corporations, provide more rights and benefits to workers, and end the control possessed by party leaders. At the national level, Progressivism centered on defeating the power of large businesses. The Progressive Era was a period in American history in which improving working conditions, exposing corruption, improving the way of life, expanding democracy, and making reforms were the objectives at hand. With the emergence of the Progressive Era, two important figures gradually emerged as well.
The Progressive Era was during the 1890s to the 1920s. During this time many different groups of people made advancements. There were negative and positive outcomes to these advancements. Two groups of people that advanced during the Progressive Era were business owners and women. Today, woman are still trying to progress.
The Progressive Era was the period of reform and social activism from 1895 to 1920, it was an attempt to get rid of all the ills that had penetrated American society during the Gilded age. The Progressives were people who tried to make the life of the average American better, they believed in the ability of humans to create a better world. Industrial capitalism, burgeoning cities, the influx of immigrants, and the depression of the 1890s were some of the sources of the reform impulse of the era. The Progressives were primarily middle class citizens such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, businessmen, etc. Many of them were part of the Republican and Democratic parties. They were greatly influenced by the Europeans.The Progressives believed
One the key pieces of legislation that was a prime example of the progressive era, was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. This law came about due to muckraking, and also because of public and political interests. Muckraking, such as Upton Sinclair’s piece, “The Jungle”, helped in the timing of the adoption of this legislature. This piece of legislature, allowed for the regulation of processed food items in United States food markets. The Pure Food and Drug Act was assigned to the Department of Agriculture under the Bureau of Chemistry (Law, 2004).
The Square Deal was imposed on three essential ideas, known as the 3 C’s: control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation. Roosevelt strived to make certain that corporations wouldn’t have complete control over their workers; the corporations needed to offer protection and basic rights to their workers. Although, corporations wished to stay cheap and maximize their profits, Roosevelt wouldn’t stand for it and forced changes using his “big stick”. This lead to Roosevelt’s reputation of being a “trust buster”, ignoring the fact that Taft and Wilson actually disbanded more trusts. Roosevelt’s second element of the square deal was consumer protection. Roosevelt’s first matter was involved with the regulation of food and drugs that were available to the public. Roosevelt read a book by Upton Sinclair, known as “The Jungle” which exposed Chicago’s slaughterhouse industry. As a result, Roosevelt influenced the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The passing of these acts helped prevent the adulteration and the mislabeling
... government inspection of meat products. The Pure Food and Drug act also passed after the Meat inspection Act of 1906. The packers denied the charges and opposed the bills to no avail. These bills protected the publics right to safe sanitary meat.
The Jungle caused such an outcry that President Roosevelt tried to mandate government enforcement of sanitary and health standards in the food industry. After Congress wouldn’t pass a meat inspection bill, Roosevelt released the findings of the Neill-Reynolds report. The Neill-Reynolds’s report found that the meat packing industry was as horrendous as Sinclair claime...