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Economic processes of the 19th centuries
Industrialization in the 19th century USA
Industrialization in the US essay
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Farmers everywhere in the United States during the late nineteenth century had valid reasons to complaint against the economy because the farmers were constantly being taken advantage of by the railroad companies and banks. All farmers faced similar problems and for one thing, farmers were starting to become a minority within the American society. In the late nineteenth century, industrialization was in the spotlight creating big businesses and capitals. The success of industrialization put agriculture and farmers on the down low, allowing the corporations to overtake the farmers. Since the government itself; such as the Republican Party was also pro-business during this time, they could have cared less about the farmers.
Knowing the fact that industrialization had been really successful during this time, allowed farmers to modernize their techniques. Farmers began to use new farming machinery such as the thresher and reaper, which made the growing of wheat much faster and efficient. However since these tools were too expensive to buy, farmers went to the banks to borrow money. Banks in turn would take advantage of the naïve farmers and raise the interest rates. This would cause the farmers to fall into debt because they would still take the loan from the bank and thought that they would be able to pay them back from their crop profit. Farmers were suffering losses year after year and were forced to have their mortgages foreclosed on, as they saw it, by their Eastern Master. Eventually farmers became the slaves to the Easter Master who ended up taking away everything the farmers had owned. (Doc. D) The complaint of farmers is absolutely valid because the bankers were doing unjust to the farmers. Bankers would let them fall into debt through their high interest rates and then seize everything they owned in court.
Just like the bank, railroad companies also scammed the farmers. The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers because in some cases the railroad company has promised the farmer a set amount of price. Like in Frank Norris' The Octopus, a farmer is promised a two-cent rate for shipping and then is demanded to give five cents (Doc. H). This is not a justified action because the farmer was lied to and taken advantage of.
New technologies not only allowed farming to become more efficient, but made the process of shipping crops west much easier. The most important innovation in farming itself was the horse-drawn combine, which required many horses to operate, but allowed wheat, a popular crop to grow in the west, to be harvested en masse. One way that eastern businessmen exploited farmers in the west was by owning the land they worked on, and taking most of their profits. Many contracts between businessmen and farmers had clauses such as, “The sale of every cropper’s part of the cotton to be made by me when and where I choose to sell, and after deducting all they owe me and all sums that I may be responsible for on their accounts, to pay them their half of the net proceeds.”
From the expanding of railroads country wide, to limiting laws on the goods farmers sold and transportation of the goods,to starvation of the economy, agriculture began to take its own shape from 1865 through to 1900 in the United States.
... This then led to another party being formed, the populist party. This party had the belief that cities depended on farms, yet farms did not depend on cities. William Jennings Brian supported this idea in his speech, quoted in document J. In which elaborates on the opposition to gold standards and supports the silver standards that would better benefit farmers. The changes in American agriculture were shaped by three key factors, economic change, government policy and technology, in the period of 1865-1900.
The farmers of the late 1800s had many reasons for being dissatisfied with their situation. Unfair railroad practices, such as rebates and drawbacks, hurt them severely. Even common issues of shortage of money, drought, and mortgages were all issues that hurt farmers economically. The farmers of the period, though, used these issues to change the shape of American politics.
The time period between 1880’s and 1900’s was generally good for politics. The U.S did not face the threat of war and many of the citizens were living peacefully. However, as time went by, the farmers in America found that life was becoming very rough for them. The crops they planted such as, wheat, cotton, etc. were once the sustenance of the agriculture industry, but now they were selling at such a low price that it was hard for farmers to make a profit. Rather many of the farmers were falling deep into debt. Furthermore, the improvement in transportation helped the foreign market gain an upper hand. Farmers often had to pay rebates and drawbacks to railroad companies to ship their goods. Railroad companies used rebates to win over the large business owners and made up the loss in profit by charging smaller shippers way more. During the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, farmers considered monopolies, trusts, railroad, and loss in silver backed dollar as threats to their agrarian lifestyle. Overall, the farmers blamed their problems on two things; the money supply, and the railroads which were valid complaints.
The growth in land also contributed to overproduction, which was another factor contributing to the farmer's hardships. The expansion of farmland combined with the mechanical advances in agricultural technology greatly increased production in the west.
Farmer’s had difficulties making a living because the rates of being a farmer was high. “Nothing has done more to injure the western region than these freight rates.” (Quoted from Document F) The high rates of being a farmer made it very difficult to make payments on the lands. Some farmers couldn’t even sell their produce for a reasonable profit. They worked long, hard hours and the government wasn’t on their side about paying them a decent income. Along with farm prices failing, railroad prices were increasing. Railroads were important very to farmers because they took farmers out to their lands, carried their produce to markets, and brought them the manufactured goods that they needed. Many farm settlements were made around railroads just because of this reason. Railroad managers were forced to charge very high rates and because of it, farmers would have to pay more money to use railroads.
The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American Politics. The country was finally free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the sustenance of the agriculture industry, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Mother Nature was also showing no mercy with grasshoppers, floods, and major droughts that led to a downward spiral of business that devastated many of the nation’s farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, numerous farms groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what the farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the final twenty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the loss in value of silver as threats to their way of life, all of which could be recognized as valid complaints.
Most of the reasons concerning agrarian discontent in the late nineteenth century stem from supposed threats posed by monopolies and trusts, railroads, money shortages and the demonetization of silver, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The American farmer at this time already had his fair share of problems, perhaps even perceived as unfair in regards to the success industrialized businessmen were experiencing. Nevertheless, crops such as cotton and wheat, which were once the staples of an agricultural society, were selling at such low prices that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them, especially since some had invested a great deal of money in modern equipment that would allow them to produce twice as many goods. Furthermore, improvements in transportation allowed foreign competition to emerge, making it harder for American Farmers to not only dispose of surplus crop, but to transport crops period. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the degeneration of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers, and as a result of this agricultural depression' many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline of agriculture.
For years, farmers had planted crops on the same land and neglected to use crop rotation (Wormser 32). Crop rotation is a method of planting crops in alternating areas to allow soil to regain nutrients and moisture. Farmers had chosen not to do this and instead overplanted their crops to gain a larger surplus. By destroying their land from over planting, farmers had a much harder time growing crops (Wormser 32). They no longer had the enriched soil that plants require. By then, it was too late to rotate the crops, because water evaporated so quickly and no nutrients were left. Reinhardt and Ganzel say that “it was constant work to put food on the table” (Reinhardt Ganzel). As a result of poor soil, farmers had a difficulty growing enough crops for a surplus, which meant they had a hard time selling produce. With little money, farmers had to be self-sustaining, although it was hard to even keep the family fed. farmers doomed themselves by not rotating crops, and the consequences were minimal crops and
Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits.
Large corporations are coming in and taking over the farming industry. They are making it almost impossible for small, family operated farms to survive. 'The six and a half million small farms of 1935 decreased to 575,000 by 1998? (Abbey, 2002). The large corporations are using the land like miners-they strip it down and get what they need, but they don't put anything back to it. Studies have shown that the family farms take care of the soil and put back the nutrients they use. There are different anti-corporate farming laws around the country that are trying to protect the small family farming industry.
Throughout the late middle ages, and beyond, England was a relatively stable, prosperous nation, largely free from the petty conflicts and power struggles of the majority of Western Europe. This was due to a multitude of factors which impacted the nobility, but only one which really impacted the general populace: a stable, steady food supply. How was this possible? Again, it can be attributed to a multitude of factors, but I believe one stands out above the rest: the multitude of unique individuals, including such luminaries as Jethro Tull, who introduced new agricultural methods to Britain, which, of course, increased crop yields, and therefore advanced the general health, stability, and tranquility of the feudal and post-feudal peasantry.
Agriculture is quite possibly the most important advancement and discovery that humanity has made. It produces the one thing that we need the most: food. It has been around since 9500 BC, and can be the oldest sign of mankind’s acumen and the development and evolving of our minds and creations. Agriculture has been mastered throughout hundreds of years and is one of our most important resources on Earth, along with water and fossil fuels. Although the older farming methods from ancient times seem somewhat mediocre and barbaric, they were very ingenious and advanced for that time period. Over thousands of years, we have improved the way agriculture is used, how land is cultivated, the various techniques of farming and irrigation, and the tools and mechanics used. Numerous things that we see as aboriginal today, such as using a hand plow, were extremely contemporary in ancient times, and played key roles in the development of man and society, since quick labor was not abundant before this time. We are now extremely advanced in agriculture and irrigation and the tools used to farm and grow and harvest crops. We have learned from our past and ancestors how to grow and evolve in our methods and have advanced forward greatly.
Different states go through different types of political and economical systems through a life time. In this case, most of the agricultural society was largely supported by the feudal system social hierarchy. Karl Marx defined feudalism as the power of the ruling class based on the control of “arable land”, this in turn affected class society based on the exploitation of the peasants who farm these lands (Beitscher and Hunt, 2014). In the feudal system, most of the rights and privileges were given to the upper classes. In this hierarchical structure, the kings occupied the highest position, followed by barons, bishops, knights and peasants (History-world.org, 2014).Feudalism is considered to be the “medieval” form of government (Beitscher and Hunt, 2014). Before capitalism came around as an economic model most states were a feudalistic country. These systems had an affect on society due to the fact it impacts citizens by “controlling” how they live and interact. The peasants were required to work for the nobles in return for land. This hierarchy was fuelled by the religious assumptions of the time that stated kings, dukes and other nobles served by the will of God over everyone else lower down the social order (Beitscher and Hunt, 2014). As industrialism provided a much more technical understanding of the world, it challenged these religious assumptions for the social