The Square Deal And The Meat Inspection Act Of 1906

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The Square Deal The economy is what keeps America running. Without the economy the United States would not have a foot to stand on. The biggest influencers of the American economy are the people of the federal government, most importantly the president. The standing president during the 1902 anthracite coal strike was Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a believer that every American should be given a fair chance. So, he came up with the idea of creating a plan that would equalize both sides of the economy and protect the resources being used. The Square Deal was introduced to protect consumers, control corporations, and conserve natural resources. The first portion of the Square Deal was to protect consumers. Protection of the consumer consisted of passing the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was an act being pushed to ban misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. “The Food and Drugs Act of 1906 brought about a radical shift in the way Americans regarded some of the most fundamental commodities of life itself, like the foods we eat and the drugs we take to restore our health.” (Swann,1)Protecting the consumer was President Roosevelt’s main priority. …show more content…

The control over the corporations started with making sure the workers were receiving fair pay. “That there shall be a increase of twenty percent to the miners, these demands were rejected, the miners subsequently offered to accept one-half that is to say ten percent increase in the pay.”(Wright,1150) Another part of this would be the policing of corporations, making sure the federal antitrust laws were being obeyed and unions were getting treated fairly. In the end, President Roosevelt made sure the corporations were treating their employees