Farming In The 1920's Essay

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

In the late nineteenth century, small farmers faced increasing economic insecurities. Millions of tenant farmers were stuck in poverty due to the sharecropping system in the South.Farmers in the south weren't the only ones facing difficult times; farmers in the west had to mortgage their property to purchase seeds, fertilizer, and equipment. Farmers who mortgaged their property faced the chances of losing their farms when they were unable to repay their bank loans. Farmers then sought out to find a solution for their condition by going through the Farmers’ Alliance and the

Every year they would rotate the crops so the spring plants would go in the fall field and the fall crops would go in the field that had nothing the previous year.

After the Civil War there were many factors that contributed the changes that occurred in farming in America. Among them was the drive for the South to renew and regain what had been lost due to the war. Leaders saw it as a time to diversify and turn towards industrialization. The Industrial revolution was underway and with it brought many new inventions that would lead to growth in the farming industry. The wide open space between the East and the West called “The Frontier” was open for homesteading. New immigrants with their farming knowledge and ability were flooding the East and West gates of the U.S. This was a time in American history when Americans

At first these plows were pulled by horses but later they were pulled by oxen (Cels 12). The meadows were cut in June to make hay for the animals to eat through the winter. This was important as the amount of hay cut determined the number of animals kept through the winter. Next came weeding the crops, which was the most hated work of the year. After this, the busiest time of the year came. It was the harvest, which took place in August and September. During the harvest, everyone helped and worked from dawn to dusk. Crops were gathered with a sickle and grains were separated from the husk and stalks, which was also called the chaff, with a flail. A sickle was a curved crescent shaped blade on a wooden handle, and a flail was two pieces of wood connected by a strap of leather. The beaten crop was widowed, or thrown in the air, so that the lighter chaff blew away. Peasants celebrated once the harvest was safely in with a feast (Crisp 11). The harvest was celebrated as it meant that they had a better chance of surviving the winter, because without the harvest safely in, the chance of them starving in the winter was much higher. Peasants had work, mostly farming, all

Economically, the Agricultural Revolution majorly impacted the way of life in the Europe, through new technological farming advancements and improved land efficiency, ultimately leading to a greater abundance of food. Compared to feudal society when people depended on small individual crop yields, many fields were combined in order to produce much larger harvests, increasing the bounty of food overall. Improved land efficiency came with new innovative ideas, including crop rotation. Allowing nutrients such as nitrogen to return to the soil, crop rotation along with fodder crops rotated the fields of crops every few years, leading to more successful yields of crops. Additional advancements in farming technology, such as the seed drill, helped

Technology greatly transformed American agriculture from just plain farming to commercial farming. The mechanization of farming made farming easier and more profitable. As shown in Document D technology was helping farmers, making farming more easier and they were able to do many jobs quicker. But, Farmers couldn’t afford to send crops to other places At the beginning of the 1840s the railroad began to transform American agriculture, by the 1860’s all states east of the Mississippi had rail service. As shown in Document B there were multiple railroads all around the country. The farmers were ecstatic about this new technology because they could send their crops to other areas, when before they didn’t have the money to be able to do so. Other new technologies were arriving such as the mechanical reaper and the steel plow.

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

The new technology used in American agriculture made it overall more productive and widespread while creating mixed results for the farmers. The advancement in machines like reapers, threshers, and mowers to harvest grains produced contrasting outcomes. An obvious benefit was some of the ease brought to the farmers. The human labor involved in harvesting grain by hand with a scythe or by a simple, one horse-powered machine was far greater than harvesting with a big, multi-horse powered machine. The devices made work simpler, faster, and more efficient for the farmers by relying on animal energy and technology (Document D). With promises of larger crops with less exertion, the new machines became very desirable to farmers in order to stay in competition with their peers; however, buying these machines also pushed many of them into unfortunate financial situations. Not only was the actual

The farmers in America had a very difficult time when the Great Depression occurred. “People who grew up during the Depression said, ‘No one had any money. We were all in the same boat.’ Neighbors helped each other through hard times, sickness, and accidents” (Bill Ganzel). Because no other profession gave enough money at the time, buying much of a farmer’s produce was not in their price range. Farmers would have to either lower their prices or make no profit at all. Though a wide variety of issues made a farmer’s job difficult in the 1930s, the problems mainly all arose as a result of tenant farmers (people who rented land to farm). Tractors became available, though expensive, and many landowners would buy one which ended up causing problems (Bill Ganzel). Due to the lack of money, affording a tractor for each tenant farmer on a landowner’s

By the 19th century, American frontiersmen were moving west. The farmers experienced much heavier and stickier soils than they had been accustomed to in the east. The soil would stick to the moldboard and a man would have to stop and scrape it off every few steps. (Anderson) “A strong man using a modern spade still took an estimated ninety-six hours to till an acre of land” (Drache 2). The cast iron plows with a wooden moldboard had worked great in the light, sandy soils of New England, but something different was needed in the west. This is where John Deere had to step in.

(Steel Plow, 1999) (Deere, 1999). It was the only steel plow that could break through the plains mud. There was many good and different ways that the plow worked. It could successfully plow many rows non stop and the blade was curved to one side so you did not need to push the dirt to one side (Deere,

Around when the Industrial Revolution began, agriculture began to take a turn in it’s way of harvesting crops. New techniques of growing and tending crops spread across Europe in the 1700s. “The improved yield of the agricultural sector can be attributed to the enclosure movement and to improved techniques and practices developed during this

It was 1939 the age of tractors was turning from the early years of the fire eating steamers that pulled plows in the great plains to the new single cylinder gas tractors that were slow and tough but powerful. From this turning era faded the F12 farmall and the F20 and came the new and improved International Harvester line. The Farmall M, was a large powerful tractor in it’s day. It has a whopping 48 horsepower, which made this tractor great for the larger farms. Another great Farmall that came along was the Farmall H. The Farmall H is a medium sized tractor for the mid-sized farm. This hoss had a healthy 30 horsepower. It is a beautiful piece of machinery that is a really nice old tractor and I happen to own one.