American Agriculture DBQ

1865-1900 was the period when the United States was changing from the Reconstruction period to the new Industrial age. The new change of the United States also changed the American agriculture for the citizens. The American agriculture changed because new technology was advancing, government policy was treating some people unfair, and economic conditions were rough for many. As the United States grows larger in population and larger in land, technology was becoming newer and better as well. The new technology of the railroad was a big hit for the United States. There was a large railroad expansion (Doc B) between the years of 1870 and 1890. The expansion of the railroad allowed transporting agricultural product to the Eastern states much easier. Not only made transporting products easier but it also encouraged westward expansion which then developed emerging national markets linking regions which was connected by the railroad. Congress even supported the fact of the expansion of railroads by passing series of the Pacific Railway Act. Another new technology during this era was new farming equipment. The Wheat Harvest (Doc D) shows farmers harvesting wheat by using big machinery and horses. The application of technology increase production with farming equipment. This new technology led farmers to invest in heavy machinery and to the emergence of large-scale commercial/bonanza farming. A heavy machine farmers started to use was the grain elevator. The Grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator that scoops grain from a lover level and transfers it to a storage facility. The United States started becoming more advance in technology which therefore led the American agriculture change. The government policies during this age thought were doing good to Americans but in the end, farmers where very dissatisfied with the government. The Illinois legislature passed laws limiting freight rates but the Supreme Court upheld the state to