Agriculture is the biggest industry in the world and home to millions of job opportunities with all jobs leading us to one purpose. Making the world a better place. Over the years agriculture has become bigger, better, and more efficient. With the progression of agriculture technology the agriculture industry has became more improved. Agriculture technology has shaped the face of our country. From the cotton gin to drones agriculture has improved. In this research paper we will take a look at the progression of agriculture technology through the years, and how the progression of agriculture technology has improved American farming has shaped the United States of America. In the 1700’s Agriculture was very simple, but was a very long process of production. Most things were done by hand in the 1700’s. A man by the name of Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and this invention would clean cotton much faster than the average man. This machine helped decrease the amount of slaves because the farmers would only have to have enough slaves to run the cotton through the machine (Moore). In March of 1794 the cotton gin was patented (Smith). At the start of the civil war 80% of the cotton was grown in the south on the southern plantations (Moore). …show more content…
In 1819 a plow with interchangeable parts was invented this would allow farmers to change parts on their plows and not have to go buy brand new equipment (Historical Timelines)., This saved time and money. Other technology improved farming too during the 1800’s. Inventions such as the Mccormick reaper and the John Deere plow helped change american farming. The Mccormick reaper was a machine that cut grass crops. This invention allowed the farmer to not have to do as much heavy work unlike when they cut the crop with a sickle or scythe. The John Deere plow was invented in Moline Illinois
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.
Before the American civil war, the Southerner’s economy had almost entirely been constructed on slave and cash crop agriculture. The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin was a contraption that transmogrified the fabrication of cotton by significantly making the task of removing seeds from the cotton fiber faster. The invention benefitted the slaves because it saved the slaves
After the civil war, America found itself with a high production rate, resulting in overproduction and falling of prices, as well as an increase on economic stress and the beginning of panic and prosperity cycles. The wars demand for products had called for a more efficient production system; therefore new machinery had come into place. New tools, such as the reaper, shown in document D, the wheat harvest of 1880, were introduced and facilitated production for farmers, making overproduction more probable. Variation on prices than begun to occur as shown in document A, Agriculture prices in 1865-1900, where a greater amount of goods became available for a more convenient price. This had farmers in distress, for they were losing more money than they were making.
As the Indians used slash and burn to make room for crops when the Americans came to Alabama they learned this type of agriculture and started growing cotton. This led to several events that dramatically affected Alabama's early agricultural development. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain created a greedy appetite for cotton fiber, and in 1794 Eli Whitney patented a new type of cotton gin in the United States, which lowered the cost of processing fiber. “By the time Alabama became a state in 1819, the interior of the state was easily accessed via the Tombigbee, Warrior, Alabama, and Chattahoochee rivers. Crops could also be transported to European and New England markets via the ports of Mobile and Apalachicola, Florida. Settlers poured into the new state with one objective to grow cotton. As time passed there was almost four million acres of cotton growing in Alabama” (Mitchell, 2007). As time progressed people thought of a new type of agriculture.
Prior to the cotton gin, a laborer could only pick the seeds out of approximately one pound of cotton a day. The cotton gin made it possible to clean up to 50 pounds per day. The farmers could now plant as much cotton as they wanted and not have the worry about the difficulties of seed removal. Eli’s invention spurred the growth of the cotton industry, and the South took up the slogan “Cotton is King.”
Cotton, once a very difficult and complicated crop to grow due to its many seeds stuck to its fibers, became a smooth, factory-like performance with the aid of the cotton gin. Cotton was so important it made up two thirds of all 200 million dollars. The cotton gin, thanks to Eli Whitney, helped remove the seeds faster, and not as painstakingly as before, this resulted in faster and greater production. A greater product yield means that the larger the workforce needs to grow in conjunction with the labor force, in this case referred to as “King Cotton”. The greater workforce was slaves, and the invention of the cotton gin led to greatly expanding the amount of slavery in the South.
As in any time period, significant technological advances were made from 1877 to 1933. Since the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in America, new technologies and advancements are being made every day. This Revolution has transformed the economy and in turn transformed every aspect of American life. An important effect of the Industrial Revolution was the Agricultural Revolution, when new advances in farming were made. In the area of farming, the government passed laws and regulations that were significant in the ...
In the late 1700’s the slave population in the United States had decreased. Before the invention of the cotton gin the South, which could only make money by farming, was loosing money because it didn’t have a major crop to export to England and the North besides tobacco and rice. However, these crops could be grown elsewhere. Cotton was the key because it couldn’t be grown in large amounts in other places, but only one type of cotton that could be cleaned easily. This was long-staple cotton. Another problem arose; long-staple cotton only could be grown along the coast. There was another strain of cotton that until then could not be cleaned easily so it wasn’t worth growing. The cotton gin was the solution to this problem. With the invention of the cotton gin short stemmed cotton could be cleaned easily making cotton a valued export and it could be grown anywhere in the south. The era of the “Cotton Kingdom” began with this invention leading into an explosion in the necessity of slaves.
With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let alone, if they had a hard time producing goods, the gains would be extremely unprofitable. While in the North, “In 1837, John Deere patented a strong, smooth steel plow that sliced through prairie soil so cleanly that farmers called it the “singing plow.” (PG 281).” Deere’s company became the leading source to saving time and energy for farming as it breaks much more ground to plant more crops. As well as mechanical reapers, which then could harvest twelve acres a day can double the corn and wheat. The North was becoming more advanced by the second. Many moved in the cities where they would work in factories, which contributed to the nation’s economic growth because factory workers actually produced twice as much of labor as agricultural workers. Steam engines would be a source of energy and while coal was cutting prices in half actually created more factories, railroads for transportation, and ships which also gave a rise in agricultural productivity.
During the early nineteenth century, the North and South were both moving towards mass production; the North relied on their industries and factories, while the South relied on the plantations that were springing up all over. Since its colonization, the South has been a region with a society based on agriculture. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, cotton had become the main harvested crop in the area. With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton was able to be produced much more easily and efficiently. By 1860, cotton represented fifty-seven percent of all United States exports. The immense profitability of cotton, created the South’s dependence on the crop, and its essential component, slavery. In the North, were slavery was illegal, managers of factories and mills had to...
Cotton was a very expensive industry. Picking cotton seeds from the cotton itself was extremely difficult and required a lot of manual labor. Obviously with labor, you need to pay your workers. This was part of the reason that tobacco and rice were two more important cash crops in colonial times, they were both cheaper and easier. However, in 1794 that all changed when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. This invention sped up the process tremendously. This was the key factor to the turning point in the cotton revolution.
farmers could now be accessed from all over the country in just a couple of
Throughout the years, farm equipment has grown and that means that the farmer can work more land and produce more yield. “More common and current agriculture equipment.” (Smyly) In the world we live in today farmers use GPS that drive the tractor automatically; therefore there are less mistakes, that begin with saying there farmer use less seed, and comically, it makes farming more efficient. “Technology allows the tractor to do much more work.”
The discovery of agriculture has led to many profound changes in society. From its origin during the Neolithic era, to its evolution throughout modern society, agriculture has formed and shaped human society to what it is today. Without agriculture, society would still be a hunting and gathering community. However, because of the uncovering of agriculture, early humans were able to grow crops and domesticate animals. Moreover, farming has made a fundamental impact in today’s modern world. Early civilizations greatly utilized this new development by increasing their presence and influence throughout the world. Because agriculture evolved, the population increased, villages and towns emerged, and urban life developed during ancient society.
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.