The Farmer's Changing Political Economy

The Industrial Revolution and the Civil War drastically changed the era of the second half of the 19th century. The inventions of Eli Whitney, Thomas Savery, and Edmund Cartwright greatly improved the lives of many, alleviating the difficulty of everyday tasks. Farmers all across America welcomed the Cotton Gin with loving, open arms because it made their work almost effortless. The large amount of time it took for the gruesome task of separating seeds from the cotton was replaced with a machine that allowed for a lot more free time, the steam-powered engine allowed for much more fuel-efficiency, and the power loom allowed factory workers to have a life outside of the factory. Then, the Civil War brought heavy economical change. It became detrimental
Unions formed with the addition of political parties in order to regain their decreasing profit. Farmers also had the intention to gain political power, as well as economic power. For example, The Grange, officially known as The National Grange of the Orders of Patrons of Husbandry, was an interest group to protest against the railroad industry’s corrupt relationship with the farmers. Founded after the Civil War in 1867, their main goal was to promote the collaboration of families in order to encourage the prosperity of agriculture, as well as their community. They were very strict on the members of their farmer’s institution, noting within their Constitution and Declaration of Purposes, “Many are excluded by the nature of our organization, not because they are professional men, or artisans, or laborers, but because they have not a sufficient direct interest in tilling the soil, or may have some interest in conflict with our purposes.” This selective ideal might have led to the Grange’s very successful accomplishments including the Grange Laws and rural-free delivery, which is the delivering of mail to families in rural regions. The Greenback Party was another unionized organization that attempted to improve the farmers’ well-being and prosperity. Named for the non-gold backed paper money that was issued after the Civil War, they pushed for the increase in the circulation of money to decrease the cost of credit to farmers. They believed that because currency wasn’t backed by gold or silver anymore, it would be ideal to assist the farmers in the economy by raising prices of the crops, in order to pay their debts much easier and much