Comparing Letters from an American Farmer and Thoreau's Various Essays

Most county leaders in 1830 agreed with the laborers, but the government in London did not. Further, enclosure eliminated the common lands whose use had helped the very poor to live. As a result, the relationship between farmers and laborers changed to a “purely market relationship between employer and proletarian.” At the same time, work once done by annual servants was given over to wage labor. Farmers were driven by income rather than social concerns and it was cheaper to pay a small wage for all positions and let laborers pay their own living out of it than to provide them room and board, however minimal. The laborers were not revolutionary, however.

The Populist Movement The small farmers of America struggled through many agricultural problems during the late19th century. Their exclusion from the industrializing society, and their lagging in developments set them back from the rest of the country. Through their hardships they found a way to come together and form a political movement that would represent their rights and needs and give them a voice in the political decision making; it was called the Populist movement. However, the formation of this movement didn’t happen over night; it was a complicated process, but in the end it paid off for the small farmers of America. The agricultural problems of the small farmers, farmers organizations, and Populist philosophies all contributed to the emergence of the Populist movement in the late 19th century.

Vol. 1. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Penguin, 2004.

John Randolph in Document A, references how farming is not kept in mind when making federal economic decisions, but the manufacturing industry is entirely accounted for. “The agriculturalists bear the whole brunt of the war and taxation, and remain poor, while the others run in the ring of pleasure, and fatten upon them.” Only enabling the manufacturing economy to thrive, while suppressing the agricultural economy, is an insecure basis for a country to subsist upon. However, this situation displays the lack of equilibrium in society, exposing a major tension between the north, south and west. Each region was only concerned with its individual prosp... ... middle of paper ... ...me decline our overture from Great Britain.” (Document H) “The Era of Good Feelings” was not a proper description for the years between 1815 and 1825. Sectionalism was frequently present throughout the country, while times of nationalism were scarce and occurred generally during the Monroe administration.

Berry does prove his thesis by showing that modernization has a hand in the destruction in the farming culture. He stated that as the society’s technology improves their way of life we seem to forget the significance of the common knowledge about the land. Also he looks down of the competition within the culture who are competing with one another. He despises the fact that some small farmer cannot compete with the bigger farms because small farms lack money, resources and manpower to keep up. All of this replaces the distraction of the farming culture today.

Getting rid of middle man and railroad so farmer would have a place to store their crops without paying railroad. Sold equipment at a lower price, and established their owned banks. Social Group. C. Farmers’ Alliances (South and Midwest) replace the Grange movement because the grange fallen apart since it wasn’t well organize. Similar to Grange, offered s... ... middle of paper ... ...to vote.

First off, I find it disturbing that he picked a poorly educated farming area. It seems obvious that the farmers don’t know what they got into and don’t have any knownldge of how to get out. I find it an example of poor unionization within the small farmers that are to be blamed not the ones that find out how to exploit it (Kenner). The movie went even deeper into the pocket of these corporations. We got to see who is really in the FDA.

During the period in which the novel was wrote was written migrant workers went from ranch to ranch working for money never really having a secure job as new technology in machinery made it cheaper to harvest crops. This introduces the two main characters George and Lennie, migrant workers, who do not fit into 1930’s society. The novel based is on characters that represent different walks of life during the period illustrating the American culture. Steinbeck portrays the American culture in a condensed version occurring only on a ranch, showing the grim truces of the society, when the novel was written In Steinbeck’s novel the character Candy is a man who has gone past his prime of his life. He has a stumped hand and therefore he is too maimed to be working in the fields, he can be seen as a cripple in the novel.

Family farms are slowly fading away from the American landscape due to the increasing number of industrialized farms. Yet, there are so many benefits that the family farm brings to the community that it would be foolish to let them slip away. As Americans, we need to do everything we can to support out family farmers because they help the community out in many ways. Everything from local, fresh, produce, to helping keep our land free from chemicals and insecticides are just a few of the tasks they do to help everyone out. Without them, the United States will turn into a place where only few farm, and those who do, farm for an economical motive.

The manor on which peasants lived was designed to be self sufficient with no strong central government; it provided a measure of security and justice and there was little contact with the outside world. There was no currency and goods were exchanged mainly by barter. In contrast to feudal Europe; stood the eastern portion of the Roman Empire with... ... middle of paper ... .... The first crusade was successful by recapturing Jerusalem but short lived. At that time the Muslims were preoccupied with an internal war among themselves and did not expect an attack.