Part 2/10:
Historically, Americans were primarily focused on merely getting enough to eat. Thomas Jefferson envisioned a nation of self-sustaining farmers, which justified the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 to expand farmland. As settlers moved westward through manifest destiny, they transformed land used by Native Americans and buffalo into cattle ranches, prioritizing meat as a symbol of prosperity. The emergence of assembly line slaughterhouses in Chicago, coupled with the rise of factory farming, marked the beginning of a new agricultural era.