Slaughterhouse+Cases


 * //Slaughterhouse Cases//**

The Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873 are an important part in U.S history. This is an important case because it challenges the 13th and 14th amendments and their meanings. In 1869 Louisiana Legislature announced a law that was passed to limit the number of slaughterhouses in the city of New Orleans. This law restricted the dumping of remains and waste in waterways and provided a single place for livestock to be kept a slaughtered. This law was constructed to help improve the well-being of the city of New Orleans and it’s in habitants.

In 1869 Louisiana Legislature passed a law that allowed the city of New Orleans to create a corporation that put all slaughterhouse operations in the city. This corporation was given all power to slaughter livestock; all other private slaughter houses were sentenced to close. All butchers not in this centralized company argued that the law took away their right to “exercise their trade” and they challenged this under the 13th and 14th amendments. “Issue: whether the 13th and 14th amendments guaranteed federal protection of individual rights of all citizens of the United States against discrimination by own state governments ([|www.lectlaw.com/files/case30.htm)].” “Majority Reasoning: states have proper police power to limit slaughter house operations for health/safety of residents. The meaning of the 13th and 14th amendments must be deprived from the historical context of the problems they were designed to remedy, namely African slavery. Congress, after end or civil war, sought to strengthen freedom of former slaves by passing these amendments ([|www.lectlaw.com/files/case30.htm)].” “The word “servitudes” in the 13th amendment refers to personal servitudes not property rights, because of qualifying word “involuntary” ([|www.lectlaw.com/files/case30.htm])” Justice Samuel F. Miller rendered the majority decision. He decided against the slaughterhouse mangers, because he said the 14th amendment had to be considered for its original purpose of its farmers, to insure the freedom of former black slaves.

The Slaughterhouse Case 1873 changes the course of events, instead of moving forward they go backwards. The country just got out of The Civil War and the whole country is in debt. Everyone’s trying to recover and start their businesses back up. Louisiana Law of 1869 said they were shutting down privately owned slaughterhouses. This could be a race thing in a way because freed slaves need money, so some may start their own slaughterhouse and the government closes them. Small black butchers are getting persecuted. The country worked so hard, and then it goes back to the same old thing. The government is always for the bigger guy. These cases follow a pattern of what we’ve seen in the past, like when Andrew Jackson tried to spread federal government for public good. Louisiana passed this law for the health and safety of the city of New Orleans. Everyone white, black, and Hispanic got kicked out of the business. The 14th amendment doesn’t protect the right to run business.

This case is like many of the things that are going on in the world today. Today, we still see the pattern of government always for the bigger guy never the little guy. Another reason why so many businesses are going out of business is because there is too much competition. This was also one of the problems with so many privately owned slaughterhouses. New Orleans made a centralized slaughterhouse corporation because it poses a threat to people’s health, for sanitary reasons too. If the company’s are dumping waste in to the water systems and the remains from one butchers plant is contaminated or infected, no one will know the source of contamination because so many privately owned slaughterhouses are opened. This even matters today because it would be like having a good number of privately owned water or electric companies in one area. No company would flourish due to so much competition and health/safety.

I think it was a good idea for Louisiana to make a centralized slaughterhouse. I think in the long run it helped the well-being of New Orleans. The Legislature of Louisiana passed this law in 1869 to limit the number of slaughterhouses and provide a single place for animals to be slaughtered. The butchers not in this monopoly argued that this law violated their right of the 13th and 14th amendments. They claimed it violated their right to “exercise their trade.” This is very true because these amendments can be misleading. The butchers made a good case against this law and supported it with legitimate facts and reasons.



Attourney for the butchers. Slaughtering Livestock.

Biblography: Danzer, Gerald A. __The Americans__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. __Slaughter-house cases__. 3 June 2009 []. __Slaughter-house Cases__." __Slaughter-house cases__. 3 June 2009 []. __Slaughter-house cases__. 2000. 4 June 2009 .