American Farmers In The 1890s

Through the period of 1865-1900, America’s agriculture underwent a series of changes .Changes that were a product of influential role that technology, government policy and economic conditions played. To extend on this idea, changes included the increase on exported goods, do the availability of products as well as the improved traveling system of rail roads. In the primate stages of these developing changes, farmers were able to benefit from the product, yet as time passed by, dissatisfaction grew within them. They no longer benefited from the changes (economy went bad), and therefore they no longer supported railroads. Moreover they were discontented with the approach that the government had taken towards the situation.

The period between 1870 and 1900 was a time to change politics. The country was for once free from war and was united as one nation. However, as these decades passed by, the American farmer found it harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the cash crop of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit. Improvements in transportation allowed larger competitors to sell more easily and more cheaply, making it harder for American yeoman farmers to sell their crops. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the fall of business in the 1890s devastated the farming community. Most notably, the Populist Party arose to fight what farmers saw as the issues affecting

White farmers in the South and Midwest faced many problems after the Civil War, economically, politically, and socially. Many farmers had a system of cultivating unimproved land, and then selling it for a profit before moving farther West. However, after the Civil War, many states had no increase or barely an increase in land value. Thus, farmers using this process were no longer earning a profit. In other states, the land value did increase greatly. However, with the coming of income taxes and the raise in property taxes, these farmers still suffered. In addition, there was a lot of tension between railroad companies and farmers because railroad companies were overcharging farmers for the transportation of crops. However, because of a monopoly,

In the period 1865-1900, technology, government policy, and economic conditions all changed American agriculture a great deal. New farming machinery had a large role in the late 19th century, giving farmers the opportunity to produce many more crops than they had ever been able to previously. The railroads had an enormous influence on agriculture. They were able to charge the farmers large fees, expenses that farmers barely had enough to cover, in order to transport their goods throughout the expansive country. The booming industry also changed American agriculture, creating monopolies and gaining incredible wealth with which the farmers simply could not compete. Economically, the monetary policy along with the steadily dropping prices of

There were many problems faced by both farmers and immigrants in the late 1800’s. The economy was very shaky, the government was not stepping up to help, and the immigrants faced harsh times in their coming to America. Eventually many groups were formed to help with these issues.

The Farmers from the East were the pioneer settlers in Michigan in the Antebellum Era. They came mainly from New England and New York. They emigrated to Michigan because of the opportunity to purchase land and farm. These pioneers would look into not only the value of the land but what the surroundings offered as well. They wanted to make sure that there were close relations available to receive any necessary supplies and for the sale of their crops. Settlers would either construct a make shift shack to stay in or stay with neighboring folks, until they built their log cabins.

Arguing that the majority of farmers during the Great Depression benefitted from the government policies produced through President Roosevelt’s New Deal is an inaccurate claim. While history textbooks highlight the improvement of finances for people in rural areas in the United States of America, the personal experiences of family farmers contradict those textbooks. Writers of textbooks about American history should consider looking further into the delicate topic of how the Great Depression effected common farm families. In the West, farmers endured the Dust Bowl. In the North, people in rural areas competed to make a profit. Although statistics show the most economic damage of the Great Depression beginning at the end of 1929, small farm families refer to the effects of the Depression dating back as early as 1925 since government policies mostly benefitted large farm industries as small farms were forced to foreclose.

Farmers were affected by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. “Much of the Roaring '20s was a continual cycle of debt for the American farmer, stemming from falling farm prices and the need to purchase expensive machinery.” (UShistory.org). The farmers were struggling with money and affording the tools needed to grow a crop. The farming way of life was slowly fading away. During the era of the Dust Bowl, there was a major drought, so farmers struggled with maintaining enough water for their crops to grow.

The early 1900's were a time of turmoil for farmers in the United States, especially in the Great Plains region. After the end of World War I, overproduction by farmers resulted in low prices for crops. When farmers first came to the Midwest, they farmed as much wheat as they could because of the high prices and demand. Of the ninety-seven acres, almost thirty-two million acres were being cultivated. The farmers were careless in their planting of the crop, caring only about profit, and they started plowing grasslands that were not made for planting.

There were many factors that caused the Great Depression. But one of the main causes of the Great Depression was the farming conditions. Before the Great Depression life was great! The American life was starting to get better and better. But In the early 1930 's soil was reduced to dust and eroded, because of drought and improper farming practice. This period of long, stressful farming conditions was known as the Dust Bowl. It led to the increased number of deaths in the 1930’s. The Dust Bowl has some major effects on the U.S. such as death, people unable to pay taxes and people were unable to purchase food.

Agricultural land-use patterns today differ from those developed by von Thunen’s model in 1826. Various factors contribute to these changes such as an increased predominance of technology for food reservation and improved transportation. In the past, the spoiling of various fruits and vegetable was highly dependent of the distance of the farm to the urban center. During that time, dairy and fruits would be located near the center of a large urban area so the can be sold before they spoil. Now, technology has improved drastically since 1826, which has resulted in changes in agricultural-land patterns. Modern technology has allowed refrigeration, chemicals, and other methods to preserve freshmen of foods for extended periods of time. Now, with

It was once stated, “Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.” In other words, take care of your own life. Forbear from seeking aid. Many people have immigrated to the United States in search of the American Dream by themselves, pursuing a place to call home, a stable job, and a happy life. In Letters from an American Farmer, J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur attempts to persuade the Europeans that America is unequivocally the land of opportunity worth moving to by causing them to feel empathy and by having them procure the logical conclusion on their own.

Modern day farmers are faced with many challenges in both the short term (daily life), and in the long term (season to season). These challenges range from battling Mother Nature, to staying financially afloat – and that does not take into account managing ones family and their health. Currently, the agriculture economy is very poor for farmers, in particularly wheat farmers. Many wheat farmers in this economy are having to downsize their operations just to keep their heads above water. There is a plethora of challenges facing dryland wheat producers therefore, it is imperative that wheat producers adjust their operation to minimize expenses and maximize profit. There are quite a few ways a wheat farmer can make the situation better. However, regardless of what way they chose, they need to take a step back,

authors who published books about the literature of nineteenth century farming, particularly agricultural journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures. These authors often placed the farming literature they were studying into an historical context by discussing the important events in agriculture of the year in which the literature was published (see Demaree, for example). However, while these authors discuss journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures, I could not find much discussion about another important source of farming knowledge: farming handbooks. My goal in this paper is to bring this source into the agricultural literature discussion by connecting three agricultural handbooks from the nineteenth century with nineteenth century agricultural history.

That is, until Mother Nature gave their hopes up and could no longer transform the prairie into farms, but that did not stop them. With expectations of rainfall in the near future farmers kept plowing and sowing wheat (History.com Staff). A recession after World War I tempted farmers to try new mechanized farming techniques as a way to increase profits (Hurt 92). Between the years of 1925 and 1935 more than five million acres of previously unfarmed land was plowed. With the help of mechanized farming, farmers produced a record amount of crops in the season of 1931. However, overproduction of wheat combined with the Great Depression, which was a time of widespread poverty and suffering, led to severely reduced wheat market prices. The wheat market was flooded, and people were too poor to buy (Henderson). For example, Evelyn a woman in Letters from the Dust Bowl stated, “Dad dreamed of a time when he could farm his land. He couldn't buy land outright. He borrowed from a neighbor and I've often wondered just how long it took to pay that neighbor back even when we couldn’t even afford to provide ourselves with food.” Evelyn explains that she was so poor people were heading towards starvation and how loans became a part of their lives. Evidently, farmers tore up even more grassland in a venture to break