Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America (Histories of Economic Life Book 3)

A history of the beef industry in nineteenth-century America, looking at how changes in cattle farming, transport, and slaughter ultimately transformed American business, policy, and consumer culture and led to modern agribusiness. **How beef conquered America and gave rise to the modern industrial food complex** By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a highly centralized industry spanning the country, with cattle bred on ranches in the rural West, slaughtered in Chicago, and consumed in the nation’s rapidly growing cities. __Red Meat Republic__ tells the remarkable story of the violent conflict over who would reap the benefits of this new industry and who would bear its heavy costs. Joshua Specht puts people at the heart of his story—the big cattle ranchers who helped to drive the nation’s westward expansion, the meatpackers who created a radically new kind of industrialized slaughterhouse, and the stockyard workers who were subjected to the shocking and unsanitary conditions described by Upton Sinclair in his novel __The Jungle__. Specht brings to life a turbulent era marked by Indian wars, Chicago labor unrest, and food riots in the streets of New York. He shows how the enduring success of the cattle-beef complex—centralized, low cost, and meatpacker dominated—was a consequence of the meatpackers’ ability to make their interests overlap with those of a hungry public, while the interests of struggling ranchers, desperate workers, and bankrupt butchers took a backseat. America—and the American table—would never be the same again. A compelling and unfailingly enjoyable read, __Red Meat Republic__ reveals the complex history of exploitation and innovation behind the food we consume today. How beef conquered America and gave rise to the modern industrial food complex By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a highly centralized industry spanning the country, with cattle bred on ranches in the rural West, slaughtered in Chicago, and consumed in the nation's rapidly growing cities. Red Meat Republic tells the remarkable story of the violent conflict over who would reap the benefits of this new industry and who would bear its heavy costs. Joshua Specht puts people at the heart of his story--the big cattle ranchers who helped to drive the nation's westward expansion, the meatpackers who created a radically new kind of industrialized slaughterhouse, and the stockyard workers who were subjected to the shocking and unsanitary conditions described by Upton Sinclair in his novel The Jungle . Specht brings to life a turbulent era marked by Indian wars, Chicago labor unrest, and food riots in the streets of New York. He shows how the enduring success of the cattle-beef complex--centralized, low cost, and meatpacker dominated--was a consequence of the meatpackers' ability to make their interests overlap with that of a hungry public, while the interests of struggling ranchers, desperate workers, and bankrupt butchers took a backseat. America--and the American table--would never be the same again. A compelling and unfailingly enjoyable read, Red Meat Republic reveals the complex history of exploitation and innovation behind the food we consume today. "By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a highly centralized industry spanning the country, with cattle bred on ranches in the rural West, slaughtered in Chicago, and consumed in the nation's rapidly growing cities. Red Meat Republic tells the remarkable story of the violent conflict over who would reap the benefits of this new industry and who would bear its heavy costs. Joshua Specht puts people at the heart of his story--the big cattle ranchers who helped to drive the nation's westward expansion, the meatpackers who created a radically new kind of industrialized slaughterhouse, and the stockyard workers who were subjected to the shocking and unsanitary conditions described by Upton Sinclair in his novel The Jungle. Specht brings to life a turbulent era marked by Indian wars, Chicago labor unrest, and food riots in the streets of New York. He shows how the enduring success of the cattle-beef complex--centralized, low cost, and meatpacker dominated - was a consequence of the meatpackers' ability to make their interests overlap with those of a hungry public, while the interests of struggling ranchers, desperate workers, and bankrupt butchers took a backseat. America - and the American table - would never be the same again. A compelling and unfailingly enjoyable read, Red Meat Republic reveals the complex history of exploitation and innovation behind the food we consume today."--Rabat de la jacquette "By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a highly centralized industry spanning the country, with cattle bred on ranches in the rural West, slaughtered in Chicago, and consumed in the nation's rapidly growing cities. Red Meat Republic tells the remarkable story of the violent conflict over who would reap the benefits of this new industry and who would bear its heavy costs. Joshua Specht puts people at the heart of his story--the big cattle ranchers who helped to drive the nation's westward expansion, the meatpackers who created a radically new kind of industrialized slaughterhouse, and the stockyard workers who were subjected to the shocking and unsanitary conditions described by Upton Sinclair in his novel The Jungle. Specht brings to life a turbulent era marked by Indian wars, Chicago labor unrest, and food riots in the streets of New York. He shows how the enduring success of the cattle-beef complex--centralized, low cost, and meatpacker dominated - was a consequence of the meatpackers' ability to make their interests overlap with those of a hungry public, while the interests of struggling ranchers, desperate workers, and bankrupt butchers took a backseat. America - and the American table - would never be the same again. A compelling and unfailingly enjoyable read, Red Meat Republic reveals the complex history of exploitation and innovation behind the food we consume today."--Page 2 of cover Cover 1 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 CONTENTS 9 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction 21 Making Beef Modern 24 How Beef Transformed America 27 Beyond the United States 31 A Steer’s-Eye View of the History of American Capitalism 34 Book Overview 37 1 War 41 The Golden Age of the Plains Nomads: Buffalo and the Spread of Horses across the Plains 46 “A Helping Hand over This Wild and Destitute Country”: Life on the Texas Frontier and the Red River War 50 Beef Handouts and the Reservation System 64 From War to Criminality: Retelling the Story 78 Conclusion 84 2 Range 87 “As Large as All Yorkshire”: Buying, Counting, and Managing Cattle 95 Land: Private and Public 101 “Cowboy-ism”: Cattle Workers and Western Mythology 115 “Doomed of Its Own Excesses [?]”: Hard Winters and the Collapse of the Industry 126 Conclusion 135 3 Market 139 The Cattle Marketing System 142 From Ranch to Slaughter 152 Horses, Water, and Stampedes: The Ecology of Cattle Trailing 154 Cattle Disease and the Regulation of Mobility 165 Between Trail and Market 172 Making a Deal 185 Conclusion 190 4 Slaughterhouse 194 Labor 199 Refrigerators on Wheels 211 The Decline of Wholesale Butchering and the Rise of Dressed Beef 221 Early Regulatory Approaches 230 Conclusion 235 5 Table 238 Buying Beef 244 Canned Beef and Its Critics 247 Beef and Hierarchy 255 Concluding with a Meat Riot 267 Conclusion 272 Notes 281 Bibliography 329 Index 349