Agriculture Dbq

From 1865-1900, America was going through a lot of agricultural changes due to the growth of industrialization. Farmers were the most influenced because they found themselves not making any profit from their crops. The new technologies, government policies, and economic conditions all impacted America’s agriculture. In response to these changes, farmers were being treated poorly and found themselves at a loss when it came to working with large corporate companies such as the railroads. During this time period, the shift from American farmers was beginning to surcome to industrialization.
Many technological advances were starting to arise during the mid to late nineteenth century. Especially for farmers, equipments such as the reaper, plow
and tractor served as huge production machines (Document D). Farm owners did not have to pay much to hire workers anymore as these machines did most of the job. Unfortunately, these technologies also hurt the farmers because they ended up producing too much which resulted in overproduction. And because the supply was increasing drastically, the demand was lowering which made the price of the products go down (Document A). In addition, farmers had to take out loans when buying these equipments and when they were not making enough profits to pay back the money, they became more and more in debt. But the farmers willingness to use these machines shows that they wanted to take advantages of what the new industrial age had to offer. Large corporations were using farmers to produce goods yet not letting them make any money.
Railroads were another big technological advancement for the agriculture in America because it allowed products to be shipped faster around the nation (Document B).
But these railroads soon created trouble as they started to implement unfair freight rates on farmers that had to ship their products to the cities. The government did try to step in by putting in the Interstate Commerce Act to stop railroads from having unfair rates but the act was not enforced enough. Illinois was one of the only states that fought the laissez-faire philosophy by going through with controlling the freight rates (Document C). The railroads were a huge impact on the agriculture of America because many southern states depended specifically on them to ship their products. For example, Chicago became the leading meat packing center and the productions of railroads led to the growth of cattle ranching while also making industrial growth (Document F). Unfortunately for the farmers, the railroads were not being unfair towards them which led to many farmers blaming railroads for their poverty. So although technology was a big advancement during the time, it created an overproduction of goods for the farmers and also led railroads to charge unfair shipping
rates.
In addition to the development of new technologies, government policies also had an impact on the American agriculture. The land grants that were given out by the government allowed for the production of railroads (Document B). As a result of this, farmers had no choice but to use them when shipping their products. For the most part, the farmers were not happy with the government because they thought that government should have a better control of the railroads and businesses. Farmers were becoming more furious with the political parties as well because they lied to farmers by telling them that they should produce large crops but then pointing out that they were overproducing (Document G). As a result of the displeasure from farmers, they wanted to start their own political group which would be formed later on and called the Populist party. The government also focused on buying land from the indians which would add to the available land for farmers to have (Document I). But governments would be selling these lands to large companies that would then sell them to farmers for unreasonable prices. Farmers did not like this and believed that the government should do a better job regulating the land distribution. As a result, the farmers began forming more socialist ideas within their Populist party which were not acceptable to the general public. Governmental policies such as the Interstate Commerce act that was suppose to be helping the farmers did no good because they were not enforced enough. As a result, farmers wanted to create change in the government by forming a party of their own that would incorporate ideas that they thought would be better for the country.
Lastly, the economic conditions from 1865-1900 also had an impact on the American agriculture.
During this time period, the large businesses were greatly influencing America politically, socially and economically. It was the large companies that were making all the money while farmers found themselves in poverty due to the overproduction of products. The farmers thought that government should produce more money by adding silver to the Gold Standard. By creating this inflation, there would be a more economic balance between the farmers and large companies. The people in the cities of course did not favor changing the Gold Standard because then they would lose power because the value of their money would go down (Document J). As a result of the industrialization in America, there was an increase in economics because of smart business people like Rockefeller and Carnegie that was able to use their knowledge to increase wealth in the nation. Farmers were being left behind in this economic advancement because they were no longer the primary economic influence in America. As a result of farmers getting into more and more debt, it led to the crop-lien system and sharecropping (Document E). The crop-lien system allowed farmers to gain credit before the planting season by borrowing from merchants the anticipated value of their harvest. The economic conditions were hard on the farmers due to the freight rates and high land prices. A radical supporter of the agricultural movement, Mary
Elizabeth Lease, blamed it on political parties that didn’t care for the farmers (Document G). This similar view for many farmers was able to unite them and change America’s agriculture. The Depression of 1893 was a big blow to the agriculture because many people could not find any jobs, let alone work on their farms (Document H). The economic conditions during the late nineteenth century was very hard and challenged the agricultural stability of the country. There is no doubt that the American agricultural world was changing. With the new age of technology and industries, the farming system that America was founded on was starting to shift. Farmers were trying to make as much change as they could with their Populist party. Even though a lot of change occurred, these years of change was able to lay a foundation for the Progressive Era that was about to come.