In particular, this law disadvantaged the butchers both in terms of securing a sufficient income and remaining self-sustaining because once the new grand slaughterhouse was operational, all other slaughterhouses were instructed to be shutdown. Although the butchers were permitted to use this new facility, it cost them in money and in time to travel across the Mississippi River and to rent out space so that they could continue to work. What is more, this law stripped the butchers of their right to liberty – which refers to the state of “being free from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life,” by enforcing them to agree with specific rules if they wanted to pursue their trade. On account of the fact that the majority …show more content…
of the butchers were of French background and this specific craft was a meaningful piece of cultural heritage as well as a connection to their ethnic roots, they should have without question been free to practice their chosen vocation without facing the obstacles that this new law imposed such as no longer being allowed to operate independently. Further, this law denied the butchers their right to exercise their trade within the confines of their own property, as they faced severe penalties and charges if they failed to conduct all of their business at the new centralized slaughterhouse. Besides the possibility of encountering heavy fines for being caught slaughtering livestock anywhere else, this law also stipulated that there were no exceptions for livestock arriving at any other location. Apart from this law depriving the butchers of their right to life, liberty, and property, it is also evident that it swiftly took away their autonomy as the butchering industry became exclusively controlled by the C.C.L.L.S.C.
To put it another way, by granting a monopoly to the C.C.L.L.S.C, the state of Louisiana not only took away the butchers freedom to work without external restraints, but it also seized hold of the activities, actions, and operations that are involved in the production and the selling of meat. Aside from driving out competition because it presented privileges and advantages to one private corporation, this law was undoubtedly a shameless attempt to exclude many while simultaneously benefiting a small handful of businessmen. Concealed by the intention of responding to the health concerns of the public, it is clear that this law was first and foremost aimed at taking away any power that the butchers in New Orleans had be able to obtain, in addition to making it frustrating for them to continue to engage in their trade. By having a single company in charge of all aspects of the butchering industry – including the absolute control of the means of production such as the facility, the machinery, and the tools, the authority to prohibit butchers from taking part in their traditional methods of cutting and meat hanging, as well as having the market power to be the designated price setters – it is unmistakable that this law gave the private owners of the C.C.L.L.S.C permission to make all of the decisions that concerned the butchering industry without having to take into consideration the wants or the needs of the local
butchers.
To start off, major discrimination existed between the slaves and freemen under these laws. First, if a doctor killed
The Mississippi Black Codes document of 1865 was presented to us by Walter L. Fleming, who was a historian who dealt with the south and more specifically the reconstruction era. He was targeting future historians who were studying this era. He nearly states the pros and cons of what the Mississippi Black Codes asked of their citizens. There were several things in the document that interested me in what history was at this time period. On the other hand, there were parts of the amendments to the government which I found very unethical with my present-day mindset. I realize such times were different, but it still made me sick to my stomach that “Freedmen, Free Negroes, and Mulattoes” were treated very differently than the ways such as whites were treated. The author breaks down the documents into different sections of the reconstruction plan. At first, he starts out talking about vagrant laws, which stated that the newly emancipated citizens had special laws that pertained to them. They were treated like animals that were forced to work if they did not have ownership of property. If they couldn’t hold down a job, on the second
The case Worcester v. Georgia (1832) was a basis for the discussion of the issue of states' rights versus the federal government as played out in the administration of President Andrew Jackson and its battle with the Supreme Court. In addition to the constitutional issues involved, the momentum of the westward movement and popular support for Indian resettlement pitted white man against Indian. All of these factors came together in the Worcester case, which alarmed the independence of the Cherokee Nation, but which was not enforced. This examines the legal issues and tragic consequences of Indian resettlement.
Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was the first of the legislation of the federal government in that time. The act made meat consumption healthier, and it saved numerous lives. It even made working conditions more tolerable in the plants. Kolko wrote about reality, what really happened in that time and the readers could understand comprehensively about American history, especially Progressive Era.
I wish I could forget it all, but the picture of six-hundred and forty-five wagons lumbering over the frozen ground with their cargo of suffering humanity still lingers in my memory.” He says that he wishes he had not seen what he saw on this trip and he wishes it did not happen. When the Cherokees appealed to the U.S. to protect their land, the Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled that the states were not allowed to make laws that govern the Cherokees, only the federal government can. This meant that Georgia laws don’t involve the Cherokees. Many religious groups, like the Quakers, didn’t want to force Native Americans against their will to move from their homelands.
In a like manner, the spirit of slavery still existed in southern states. In Henry Adams’ statement to the Senate, concerning his first few days of freedom (Doc C), he emphasizes his slave-like treatment with a reference to his travels to Shreveport where he was beaten for saying that he belonged to no one. Likewise, Black Codes (Doc B) passed in Southern states restricted the actions of black Americans within a town or state. Although these would eventually be overturned by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (Doc A), it further demonstrates the lack of freedom that free slaves had during Reconstruction. Conversely, black Americans were granted all the rights of a white citizen. The 14th and 15th amendment to the United States Constitution(Doc A) states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States… are citizens of the United States… no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens...the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged…” This meant that black Americans now had freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, and freedom to
At the beginnings of the 1900s, some leading magazines in the U.S have already started to exhibit choking reports about unjust monopolistic practices, rampant political corruption, and many other offenses; which helped their sales to soar. In this context, in 1904, The Appeal to Reason, a leading socialist weekly, offered Sinclair $500 to prepare an exposé on the meatpacking industry (Cherny). To accomplish his mission, Sinclair headed to Chicago, the center of the meatpacking industry, and started an investigation as he declared“ I spent seven weeks in Packingtown studying conditions there, and I verified every smallest detail, so that as a picture of social conditions the book is as exact as a government report” (Sinclair, The Industrial Republic 115-16). To get a direct knowledge of the work, he sneaked into the packing plants as a pretended worker. He toured the streets of Packingtown, the area near the stockyards where the workers live. He approached people, from different walks of life, who could provide useful information about conditions in Packingtown. At the end of seven weeks, he returned home to New Jersey, shut himself up in a small cabin, wrote for nine months, and produced The Jungle (Cherny).
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” gave the most in-depth description of the horrid truths about the way America’s food companies, “the only source of food for people living in the city,” are preparing the food they sell. “The Jungle” describes the terrible
The year 1906 brought about a new era in governmental legislation that helped to shape the way privately owned producers of consumable goods would conduct themselves in the future. President Theodore Roosevelt, a man known for his tenaciousness when tackling the issues of the people, pursued these legislative changes, refusing to back down to the lobbyists who stood in his way. One such industry brought to its knees was the meat packing industry, a thriving group of companies that supplied not only the United States but also the markets in Europe with processed foods.
In the early twentieth century, at the height of the progressive movement, “Muckrakers” had uncovered many scandals and wrong doings in America, but none as big the scandals of Americas meatpacking industry. Rights and responsibilities were blatantly ignored by the industry in an attempt to turn out as much profit as possible. The meat packers did not care if poor working conditions led to sickness and death. They also did not care if the spoiled meat they sold was killing people. The following paper will discuss the many ways that rights and responsibilities were not being fulfilled by the meat packing industry.
2Volume 24, Number 1. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing Industry [Internet]. Los Angeles, CA (USA): CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION; (fall) 2008 [cited 2014 Feb 16]. Available from: http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-24-1-b-upton-sinclairs-the-jungle-muckraking-the-meat-packing-industry.html
Elizabeth Poor Laws: Why were they so important in the development of social welfare in North America?:
The state government of Mississippi enacted many criminal statutes, one being the “Pig Law”, which defined that the theft of a farm animal that was worth ten dollars or more was punishable by up to five years in prison. With the Pig Law the Mississippi instituted the “Leasing Act”, a law that was aimed to target thousands of poor freed blacks. With the Leasing Act, the state would be able to send prisoners to farming camps for less than ten years. This act would only apply to newly freed blacks. As whites would usually be charged and, or convicted for more severe crimes. However, if they were sentenced, whites would be sent to the state penitentiary located in Jackson instead of being sent to Parchman Farm. As the Leasing and Pig Acts developed, convict leasing completely replaced slavery and recreated the racial and social constructs of the Confederacy, as well as building up the economic growth of a “redeemed South”. Convict leasing grew to be used for practically everything, from growing cotton, extracting turpentine gum, and to constructing rail lines. It also solved the issue of high labor costs, as nominal expenses for clothing, food and shelter were required. With convict leasing, creating a surplus of labor that was easily replace, mistreatment of the convict labor was normal and regular occurrence. Oskinsky explains the terrors that waited for a convict that was leased. From the ever-present whipping to the use of metallic spikes that would fastened to the convict’s feet to prevent escape. The death rate was extremely high and there was no leniency for the old or young, as the system took all ages. The penal codes of the state made no differentiation between juvenile and adult offenders, and by 1880, "at least one convict in four was an adolescent or a child- a
Tom Regan, “The Case for Animal Rights,” in In Defense of Animals, ed. Peter Singer (Oxford: Blackwell, 1985), 21. U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistical Services, Livestock Slaughter. 2005 Summary, March 2006: USDA, NASS, Poultry Slaughter: 2005