1920’s Synthesis Essay The thing that contributed to the immense social gap that caused the rich to get richer and the poor got poorer was the rapid economic growth during the Roaring 20s . Another thing was that farmers began to become bankrupt due to overproduction of there crops. 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
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.
High prices forced farmers to concentrate on one crop. The large-scale farmers bought expensive machines, increasing their crop yield. This caused the smaller farmers to be left behind. The small farmers could no longer compete and were forced give up their farms and look for jobs in the cities. The smaller farmers who stayed blamed their troubles on banks and railroads. In the 1890’s western and southern farmers came together to make up the political party called the Populist Party. Their plan was to take control of the White House; then they could solve all their problems.
In the Roaring Twenties, people started buying household materials and stocks that they could not pay for in credit. Farmers, textile workers, and miners all got low wages. In 1929, the stock market crashed. All of these events started the Great Depression.
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.
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 the agricultural community. During the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw railroads and banking enterprises threaten their way of life; their work to fight these elements eventually led to a change in national politics.
The Great Depression is a an era when the US economy was at its lowest. It is after the Roaring 20s. The depression was caused mainly because of the crash of the stock market in 1929 and the government’s failed attempts to help the people. Many people’s belongings are bought with credit so they lost all their money and most of their things when the bank system failed. Others lost their jobs and many men left their families because they felt ashamed that they can’t support their family. The social fabric of the Great Depression changed greatly from the previous era. The changes in the social, the political, and the economic part of the US are part of the change in the social fabric.
Between 1865 and 1900 technology, economic conditions, and government policy influenced American Agriculture greater than it ever had before. Technologically, Railroads, factories, and farm equipment changed American agriculture by allowing the production of farmed goods to be increased substantially, while economic conditions caused the prices of these goods to go down and then fluctuate. Farmers hurting from the economic disarray began influencing the laws being passed to help them in their economic troubles. Because of the influence of technology, government policy, and economic conditions between the 1865 and 1900 American agriculture was affected.
When discussing change in the late 1800’s a few things come to mind, but the progression of capitalism was a major catalyst for most of them. Capitalism is an economic system of free market. It promotes private or corporate ownership of goods from investments based upon price, production, and distribution of goods. This new idea tended to promise wealth and stability, but when the distinction between the working lower class and bourgeoisie became more evident, people were irritated. Capitalism began to exploit the greed in man and bring fear to the strongest of wills. Many dreamed of this as the golden age of man kind and saw new prosperity as a benefit for all “for how could there be greed when all had enough.”(George, p.21) Poverty spread through the working class like disease and forced millions of Americans to fight for survival. In a trip to Chicago Rudyard Kipling furiously describes the dreary, money driven conditions that consumed the earth, water, and air. “I spent ten hours in that huge wilderness, wandering through scores of miles of these terrible streets, and jostling some few hundred thousand of these terrible people who talked money through their noses....
With the rise of big business and industrialization came several problems associated with the economic boom. The rich were getting richer. The poor were getting poorer. The gap between the "haves" and the "have nots
From 1865 to 1900, production of crops increased, and prices dropped. (Document A) These crops were shipped east, where they were eaten and exported to other countries. This was due to technology, but government policy caused economic conditions in the west barely improved as a result. In fact, despite the success many farmers experienced, many in the west still struggled to put food on the table.
Where would the world be without the inventions and ideas of the 1920's? The answer is, no one really knows; however, the inventions and ideas that were brought about in the 1920's are things that are used more than ever today. With the technological advancements made in the 1920's, the invention of the radio, television, automobile, and other minor advancements made the 1920's one of the most important decades of the 1900's.
In closing, at the close of the 19th century government spending on public goods and services was minimal, resulting in growing disparity between the new upper class and the working class. Some wealthy people, such as Andrew Carnagie, felt that it was their responsibility to bridge this gap. Others utilized social Darwinism to justify the widening gap between upper and working classes. Both theories failed to meet the needs of an expanding working class in an era of increasing disparity and oppression masked by unprecedented economic growth known as the Gilded Age.
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.
European economies were in a financial tailspin that resulted in decreased output in world markets. The demand for consumer and industrial goods drove up prices, and the world economic leaders provided little leadership during the depression. The agricultural market also had issues with lower wheat prices and incomes for farmers. Democratic governments took over farms in some counties and subsequently blamed for problems in the farming industry.
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.