Agrarian Discontent in Late Nineteenth Century
At the end of the nineteenth century the American farmers faced many problems. Industrialization of the farms caused many farm workers to loose their jobs. Many farmers began raising only one crop in large amounts, which led to deflation. This meant ruin for many farmers, since they had to pay back the debts they owed for land and machinery. The railroads, corporations and processors made the situation even worse by organizing together and regulating crop prices.
The mechanization of agriculture created a lot of problems for the western farmers. New machinery made crop production much easier and faster. This caused many farm workers to loose their jobs, because such machines as the twine binder and the "combine" replaced them. Also, many farmers saw no need to produce a variety of different crops. Instead, they focused on production of a single crop that they could sell for the most money. They did not produce food for themselves, since it could be bought from the store using their profits.
This single-crop economy worked well as long as the prices were high. However soon the prices soon began to fall. As J. Laurence Laughlin said, "the sudden enlargement of the supply without any corresponding increase of demand produced the alarming fall in price". Nevertheless, farmers continued producing even greater amounts of crop, hoping that the increased production will bring them bigger profits. This deflation in the econom...
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.
During the 1930s, the country was in a state of economic depression. Some Americans lost their jobs, while others received a pay cut. There was a low amount of cash circulating the system, and most items were bought on credit. Because families were low on money, they could only buy the bare necessities. They had to spend their money wisely. Since only a minimum amount of food was bought, the supply of crops exceeded the demand. This caused the prices for farmers selling crops to decline. Therefore, the cost of production was more than the profit of selling the crops, making it extremely difficult for farmers to survive.
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.
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.
.... farmers were unable to make loan payments to banks. Banks then foreclosed on properties and were unable to sell. Land prices decreased, farmers went bankrupt, banks failed. The Napoleonic War fueled America’s agriculture growth and expansion; however, the end of the wars contributed to The Panic of 1819.
Farmer’s discontent during the period 1870 – 1900 had an impact on their attitudes and actions towards politics. During this period manufacturing had a growth spurt and agricultural started to decline. This made it harder for the farmers to make a decent living. For example in document G it shows how much manufacturing increased between the 50 years. America could no longer dream to be a nation of small freehold farms. Manufacturers and people living in big cities depended on farmers to supply everything. Many people didn’t realize how much of an affect farmers had on their lives. If somebody was to take farms away, everything would have completely crashed.
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.
Within ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark's degraded state due to the deceit that lies within. These references are made by Hamlet, Horatio as well as the apparition, thus enforcing the strong theme of death, decay and disease.
Economic growth was the foremost force driving the rigorous transformation of the West following 1865. One major industry reconstructed the West, farming. While the tendency of the period was expansion and gain, the actuality for many farmers was conflict, defeat, and failure. Farmers faced irregular weather tendencies, which brought high levels of rainfall and drought causing hardships. In addition to the irregular weather, "swarms of insects such as grasshoppers attacked their crops" (Keene, 452). Another struggle that farmers encountered was the variation of the prices of their crops. For example, "in the 1880s, wheat farmers on the Plains saw a price fall due to competition with less expensive wheat grown in Russia, South America, Canada, and Australia" (Keene, 452).
economic depression. Most of the land that could be farmed on had been abused. This
The revolution of 1800 introduced the first peaceful transition of power from Adams to Jefferson. Jefferson sought to change the American ideals of the 1800s, as the people accepted and demanded a change through the Electoral College. Once established in office, he reduced the size of the government, purchased the Louisiana territory, and advocated farming in America. It is known as Jeffersonian Democracy, however, the democracy was based off the notion of Agrarianism. Agrarianism can be defined as the social or political philosophy which values a rural society far more than an urban society; it advocates the concept of farmers being superior to paid workers, thus emphasizing the superior simple rural life style opposed to a far more complex
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.
First, farmers began going bankrupt due to over producing their product. “countries returned to growing their own grain. The expansion had led to overproduction and now there was too much for markets to handle. Farmers found it more and more difficult to sell their produce.”(Hardcastle). Do to slow marketing businesses over 600,000 farmers had become bankrupt at this time because “large surpluses were accompanied by calling prices at a time when Americans
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.
In the first act of Hamlet, Hamlet uses imagery of disease to describe the state of Denmark. He is unhappy with what has happened with the country. "There is something rotten in the state of Denmark." He is describing how disgusted he is with his mother and how she is sleeping with his uncle using images of disease. "It will but skin and film the ulcerous place / Whiles rank corruption, mining all within, infects unseen." The imagery of disease is a main factor in this story and is used in large amounts. It shows a feeling of disgust that Hamlet has with the surrounding situation in the play and his life.