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Great depression farming crisis
Agriculture act in the great depression
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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.
Farmer’s had difficulties making a living because the rates of being a farmer was high. “Nothing has done more to injure the western region than these freight rates.” (Quoted from Document F) The high rates of being a farmer made it very difficult to make payments on the lands. Some farmers couldn’t even sell their produce for a reasonable profit. They worked long, hard hours and the government wasn’t on their side about paying them a decent income. Along with farm prices failing, railroad prices were increasing. Railroads were important very to farmers because they took farmers out to their lands, carried their produce to markets, and brought them the manufactured goods that they needed. Many farm settlements were made around railroads just because of this reason. Railroad managers were forced to charge very high rates and because of it, farmers would have to pay more money to use railroads.
Farming is the main supply for a country back then. The crops that farmers produce basically was the only food supply. That makes famers a very important part of society. Farmers back t...
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... farmers. They was losing land for the production of railroads. To solve this solution the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 was put in place. The Supreme Court would rules that individual states could not regulate interstate commerce and discriminate against out of state business. Also, President Cleveland was forces to give out land to the public.
The election of 1892 was won by Cleveland (D). He had brought new ideas and was an inspiration to all including the opposite parties. Cleveland had the majority of the votes especially the votes that came from the East coast which has major plantations (Document D). Cleveland promised big hope for people. He was said to have solid sense and able to give social stability especially by being accompanied with McKinley (Document I). In the end Cleveland just gave land to farmers because of the complaints of the railroads.
The years 1840 to 1890 were a period of great growth for the United States. It was during this time period that the United states came to the conclusion that it had a manifest destiny, that is, it was commanded by god to someday occupy the entire North American continent. One of the most ardent followers of this belief was President James K. Polk. He felt that the United States had the right to whatever amount of territory it chose to, and in doing this the United States was actually doing a favor for the land it seized, by introducing it to the highly advanced culture and way of life of Americans. Shortly after his election he annexed Texas. This added a great amount of land to the United States, but more was to follow. The Oregon Territory became a part of the United States is 1846, followed by the Mexican Cession in 1848 and the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. At this point the United States had accomplished its manifest destiny, it reached from east to west, from sea to shining sea. Now that the lands it so desired were finally there, the United States faced a new problem- how to get its people to settle these lands so they would actually be worth having. Realistically, it is great to have a lot of land, but if the land is unpopulated and undeveloped, it really isn't worth much. And the government of the United States knew this. One of the reasons that many did not choose to settle there immediately was that the lands were quite simply in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by mountains, inhabited by hostile Indians, and poor for farming. Because of these geographical conditions, the government was forced to intervene to coax its citizens into settling the new lands. Basically the lands were not settled because they were available, they were settled because of various schemes the government concocted to make them seem desirable.
The growth of agriculture and railroads in Texas and in the United States helped form our economy today. Railroads today pass through a lot of Texas, and even in big cities like Houston or Dallas. Since there are so many farms and open farmland (especially in south and west Texas), railroads can carry the produce and livestock to their destination. James Watt invented the first steam engine in about 1769, and from then on, railroads were a must for transportation, since cars had yet to be invented. Railroads began to be built before the Civil War. It originally took about 6 months to get from the west of the US to the east, but now it only took 7 days. With railroads expanding all across the country, agriculture was affected in a mostly positive way. Now, crops and other goods could be transported by train anywhere in the US, and fast.
Although not a natural resource, railroads were considered one of the key factors in almost every widespread industry. It allowed companies to quickly send products across the entire nation without using expensive and time-consuming caravans or wagons. Cornelius Vanderbilt was a prominent leader in the railroad industry at this time. He was already in his later years by the time the Gilded Age rolled around and didn't even get to see the uprising of some of the greatest leaders of the time. The railroad companies took advantage of their necessity by constantly overcharging customers, especially farmers. This led to one of the first labor unio...
The country at the time was in the deepest and soon to be longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world and this caused years of over-cultivation of wheat, because “during the laissez-faire, expansionist 1920’s the plains were extensively and put to wheat - turned into highly mechanized factory farms that produced highly unprecedented harvests” (Worster 12). ¬The farmer’s actions were prompted by the economic decline America was facing. With the economy in a recession, farmers were looking for a way to make a living and in 1930 wheat crop were becoming very popular. In 1931 the wheat crop was considered a bumper crop with over twelve million bushels of wheat. Wheat was emerging all over the plains. The wheat supply forced the price down from sixty-eight cents/bushel in July 1930 to twenty-five cents/bushel in July 1931. Many farmers went broke and others abandoned their fields, but most decided to stay despite the unfavorable
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 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”. The rail companies justified this practice by asserting that if they did not rebate, they would not make enough profit to stay in business. So while the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. In The Octopus a farmer named Dyke discovers that the railroad has increased their freight charges from two to five cents a pound. This new rate, “…ate up every cent of his gains. He stood there ruined.
develop their own sense of identities and express their attitude. This new attitude sets the stage which sprang from the increasing discontent of political affairs. The late 1800s, revolved around advancement in technology which benefitted mostly the industries. As the manufacturers increase vastly during this period, the population of farmers hit a decline. The result of this decline in agriculture, forced an obstacle upon the farmers. With numerous problematic issues, the farmers struggled to sustain a stable living. Agitation amplified the tension which become the leading factor that guided the farmers' discontent. The desire for systematic reforms through
To begin, wealthy land owner would buy land from the village farmers. Once they had purchased the land, they enclosed their land. Enclosing their lands would enable them to cultivate larger fields. The new landowners would use their larger fields to experiment on seeding and have rusting methods in the hope of boosting crop yields. These new farmlands allowed for two important results. First, landowners were encouraged to trey new agricultural methods. Second, large landowners forced small farmers to either become tenant farmers or to give up up farming and move to the cities. On the contrary side, some may have argued that the wealthy taking over their farmland was a bad idea. For example, some farmers were angry due tot he fact that they would have to give up their land; however, this proved to help
There is no refuting that the railroad companies transformed business operations and encouraged industrial expansion. The raw materials required for construction of the transcontinental railroad directly resulted in the expansion of the steel, lumber and stone industries. (Gillon p.652) The railroad stimulated growth in manufacturing and agriculture providing an efficient manner to ship raw materials and products throughout the country. Which in turn, increased consumerism and introduced t...
With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let alone, if they had a hard time producing goods, the gains would be extremely unprofitable. While in the North, “In 1837, John Deere patented a strong, smooth steel plow that sliced through prairie soil so cleanly that farmers called it the “singing plow.” (PG 281).” Deere’s company became the leading source to saving time and energy for farming as it breaks much more ground to plant more crops. As well as mechanical reapers, which then could harvest twelve acres a day can double the corn and wheat. The North was becoming more advanced by the second. Many moved in the cities where they would work in factories, which contributed to the nation’s economic growth because factory workers actually produced twice as much of labor as agricultural workers. Steam engines would be a source of energy and while coal was cutting prices in half actually created more factories, railroads for transportation, and ships which also gave a rise in agricultural productivity.
“Freedom for The Farmer” is can be outlined by two major points for this chapter. “No power over agriculture was given to any branch of the national government”. While this is said and done that, of course, didn’t stop Congress and federal agencies from looking around the Constitution. Which to when The Supreme Court struck down the phrase “general welfare”. To still basically gave Congress no power to control anything. But still doesn’t stop Congress from putting their hand where it doesn’t belong. It’s clearly stated that none of the branches of government have power in agriculture. Like always they believe that they do so and try to come up with numerous about of excuse to justify that they do in fact have a place.
Just like the bank, railroad companies also scammed the farmers. 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.
In the early stages of the war the prices of agricultural products increased and the farmers in the U.S enjoyed a 25% greater spending budget. Which was a big positive for those whom were poor farmers giving them a chance to lift themselves out of their poverty stricken state. Everywhere across the United States demands for produce increased like the increase by 30% of hog production and an increase of 18% of hogs ready to be slaughtered. Even with all of these increase in production most experts believed that the war would soon end and farmers did not want to produce to much and have no one to sell the produce to. The war turned a farmer into one of the the most important people in the country. Farming came to be as essential to the country as manufacturing planes, tanks and ammunition . A down side to the production of agricultural goods is that there would later be a lack of farm hands and people to run the farms because all of the farmers sons were being called to support...
Farmers in the nineteenth century had several problems to deal with. One of the biggest problems was the fact that they were subject to the whims of nature. If there was a particularly bad storm, the crops for the year could be lost. If this happened, the family would be left with whatever food they had stored. Unfortunately, there was usually very little food left in storage, since they were required to pay taxes on the land they worked, and that was usually paid in grain. There was usually no extra food, other than what they stored for the win...
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.