The Progeressive Era in American history is known as a historical period of changes that also brought many various reforms, most of which were very important and beneficial both for American people and the whole country. This paper will focus on three of them, and each of three reforms provided below will be discussed and described in detail.
The Pure Food and Drug Act that passed in 1906 was issued by the Federal American Government and led to the establishment of Food and Drug Administration. This act was the first consumer protection law, the purpose of which was to prohibit interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated drugs and food. According to the act, it was forbidden to add any ingredient that would substitute for the food, cause a health hazard, conceal damage or include any decomposed or filthy substance. It was prohibited to attach false food labels to products, and it was also required to specify all dangerous ingredients. The Pure Food and Drug Act was administrated by the Bureau of Chemistry in the period from 1906 to 1937. This act was very important and played a significant role in American society because it helped to improve and increase people’s awareness about the food that they eat, as well as their confidence in their food’s sanitation. (Armbruster and Knutson 47)
The Meat Inspection Act is another American reform that also passed in 1906. The purpose of the act was to prevent and forbid the sale in interstate commerced of any meat products of bad quality. As a result of the issue of this act, the procedure of animals inspection was set up and the special inspection service appeared. Since the passage of the act in 1906, it has been changed and improved several times. One of the most recent and significant improvements was conducted in 1967, when the Federal Meat Inspection Act was created. In general, it is possible to say that the Meat Inspection Act was very important for Americans and the country because it helped to ensure the population that meat products that they buy and consume are of a good quality, are healthy and safe to eat (Clesworth 145)
Taylorism is the third popular reform of the Progressive period in the United States that was first introduced by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1880. Often Taylorism is also called scientific management, and it is considered to be a very influential management philosophy, the purpose of which was to analyze factories jobs and their simpliest components, and then to reorganize and simplify work at factories in order to improve it and achieve higher efficiency. It had been practicing in the period from 1880s to 1930s untril the labor union movement got the power and dismissed Taylorism. This reform is also considered to be very important for the United States because it had many benefits. First off, since the main focus of Taylorism was efficiency, new methods led to enormous increase in productivity. Moreover, it has essentially improved working conditions of workers at factories, because workers were seen as replaceable elements in the assembly line, and were allowed to have several break during their working day. Also, with the help of Taylorism not only workers but also managers became involved in the production process, which encouraged them to develop and show their effective leadership. In general, it is possible to say that Taylorism was a significant reform for new and fast-developing industrial society in the United States. (Lucey 64)
Works Cited
Armbruster, Walter and Ronald Knutson. US Programs Affecting Food and Agricultural Marketing. New York: Springer. 2013. Print
Chesworth, N. Food Hygiene Auditing. Gaithersburg: An Aspen Publication, 1999. Print
Lucey, Terry. Management Information Systems. Croatia: Thompson, 2005. Print
