Farmers of the late 1800's: Changing the Shape of American Politics

Farmers were able to produce more goods, yet they overproduced and it resulted in economic hardship for them. They could not afford to export goods through the rail roads high rates, and led to clashing with the government, for the lack of support. Such factors resulted in change of American agriculture.

were once the sustenance of the agriculture industry, but now they were selling at such a low price that it was hard for farmers to make a profit. Rather many of the farmers were falling deep into debt. Furthermore, the improvement in transportation helped the foreign market gain an upper hand. Farmers often had to pay rebates and drawbacks to railroad companies to ship their goods. Railroad companies used rebates to win over the large business owners and made up the loss in profit by charging smaller shippers way more.

The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers because in some cases the railroad company has promised the farmer a set amount of price. Like in Frank Norris' The Octopus, a farmer is promised a two-cent rate for shipping and then is demanded to give five cents (Doc. H). This is not a justified action because the farmer was lied to and taken advantage of.

The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, many railroads offered rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. However, this practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, for often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips.

New farming machinery gave frames the ability to produce more crops. Railroads quickly transported goods but also forced farmers to pay hefty fees. The booming industry also changed American agriculture, creating monopolies which the farmers could not compete with. Economically, the monetary policy along with the steadily dropping prices of agricultural produce led farmers further into debt. And, finally, the government policies favored large and wealthy industries and monopolies over the farmers.

Farmers were falling into unprofitable production and debt using all the profit innovating machines the government encouraged them to use. Foreign products led to unprofitable life, and farmers fell into a depression. Many parties were formed to speak what was on their mind, one of the main parties includes the populist party, fighting for what should be truthfully theirs. Businesses prospered near the late nineteenth century. Many monopolies, centralized banks, and trust were produced due to this industrialization rush.

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. The beginning of the emergence of the Populist movement started back with the farmers and their agricultural problems. For years the American farmers were isolated from society and felt ignored and left out by the growing industrialized economy. Life as a small farmer became more and more difficult as the prices for their goods dropped rapidly in the late 19th century. It was also getting more and more expensive to ship their goods to markets to be sold so they could make a profit.

The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth, yet it hurt small shippers and farmers in many ways. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, railroads would offer rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. This practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, because often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips. This was known as the “long haul, short haul evil”.

Agriculture and the 1920's Boom In the 1920's, farmers and people alike were struggling to keep up with the highly efficient Canadian wheat producers. Many European countries suffered great bankruptcy from World War one and could no long afford to ship things like grain to they're countries. To add to this, the American population had been gradually falling so there were fewer mouths to feed. New machinery and technology were being made ad farmers tried to take advantage of this. This backfired.

The end of the 19th century brought to farmers astringent policies enforced by railroad companies, once stable cash crops like cotton and wheat now selling at such low profit margins due to inflation that farmers continued to end up in the red, spikes in foreign competition due to leaps and bounds in transportation, and all of this in the wake of a devastating drought that brought with it the degradation of businesses throughout the west. This agricultural depression culminated into the Populist movement, founded on the premise of the politicalization of the farmers plight. However, much of the negative stigma put onto the precipitants of the industrial revolution by farmers was under false pretense, when the dry and arid conditions of the west, as well as the social isolation from the increase of farm size was to blame. The end of the nineteenth century brought with it a new age of monopolies and trusts, where competition evaporated while businesses centralized. Farmers felt threatened by monopolization, especially with railroads, because the lack of competition would leave profit driven corporations to raise rates, and put a strangle hold on farmers profits.