Important Key Terms

1)Meat Inspection Act- This act was made to make sure that meat and meat products when slaughtered would be done under sanitary conditions. Animals that were slaughtered were supposed to pass an inspection by the U.S. Drug Administration. Slaughterhouses and processing plants had to make sure that everything ran good under the sanitary standards.
2)Pure Food and Drug Act- This was made to stop the making and selling of products that were falsely labeled and also products such as food, medicines, and liquors that were poisonous.
3)Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act- The act provided government jobs based on competitive exams and not political relations.
4)Interstate Commerce Act- This act was made in 1887 to control railroad corporations across the nation. It controlled shipping rates and made sure that large business could not discriminate smaller corporations.
5)Sherman Antitrust Act- The Sherman Antitrust Act was made to prohibit trusts. The purpose of the act was to stop people from harming other competition.
6)Federal Reserve Act- This act was made as a precaution in case of financial panic and bank problems. It was made so that events such as the Panic of 1907 and the Great Depression could be handled efficiently. It made more jobs, better prices, and long term interest rates.
7) Clayton Antitrust Act- It was passed by the U.S. Congress as an amendment to add more things to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The act provided exclusive sales contracts, rebates, and cutting down their products prices to beat their competition. The act restricted the injunction of labor. It legalized peaceful strikes and boycotts.
8) Secret Ballot- A secret ballot is a voting method in an election where your vote is kept confidential. It's used so that the voter won't be bribed or intimidated when making their vote.
9)Hepburn Act- This act strengthened railroad regulations. It increased the size of the Interstate Commerce Commission from five to seven members, it didn't allow free passes, made terminals, storage facilities, pipelines and ferries.
10)Elkins Act- This act provided prosecution and punishment to railroad corporations. This also said that railroad corporations were to never cut down the prices that they would put.
11)Square Deal- It handled the problems between businesses and society. It gave fair transactions between them.
12)16th Amendment- The 16th Amendment states that Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes.
13)17th Amendment- The 17th Amendment says that each state should have two Senators whose term consist of six years.
14)18th Amendment- The 18th Amendment prohibits the manufacture and sale of alcohol in America.
15)19th Amendment- The 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote. It says that it prohibits any state from denying a citizen the right to vote just because of the person's sex.
16) Underwood Tariff Act- The Underwood Tariff Act reduced tariffs and made an income tax. It charged American Manufacturers who wanted to sell their products overseas.