Developments in agriculture 1890-1920 Flashcards
What agriculture was the US a world leader in?
The production of wheat, corn and other grains. In 1900 the production of US wheat was at 25% and Britain was at 2% with Germany at 4%
What was the situation of US agriculture in the 1890s?
It was in crisis, and the years of depression following the 1893 Panic intensified the problems in agriculture.
What did small farmers in the South and West face?
Difficult economic conditions, with falling prices for what they produced and a shortage of credit.
What did farmers become part of?
A wider commercial network, more and more dependent upon railroad companies and banks in order to invest in seed livestock, equipment and fertilisers. This made them vulnerable to market forces beyond their control.
What was this vulnerability of farmers especially noticeable in?
The agricultural economy in the South. ‘Big agriculture’ (tobacco, sugar, and cotton) still provided the basis of the Southern economy.
Describe the situation with black farmers.
The promises to empower them in a new age of land and freedom were not fulfilled - a small number of African-Americans became independent farmers but most remained trapped in as ‘sharecroppers’.
How did small white farmers relate to black farmers?
Small white farmers were only a little better off, struggling to raise the finance needed to invest in improved methods - were not moving on.
Give another example of the vulnerability of small farmers.
The rush of farm settlements in the Trans-Mississippi West - In the late 1880s and early 1890s, there was a huge expansion of farm settlements in states such as Oklahoma and Colorado, as people changed their view of the Great Plains as the ‘Great American Desert’.
Which 2 factors ensured that the apparent success of the early years turned out to be illusory?
- Banking and credit
- The climate
What was the optimism of the early land rush fuelled by?
Readily available ‘easy credit’ - loans from banks and land companies that were based on unrealistic expectations of farmers’ ability to repay them.
What happened when the credit boom subsided?
Many small farmers were mired deep into debt and were unable to access the loans they needed. This was a key reason for protests from Western and Southern farmers that led to the rise of populism.
Describe the fluke with climate during the rush of settlement in the 1880s.
The rush was during a period of unusually high annual rainfall that made even marginal land fertile and productive - levels of rainfall only an anomaly.
What happened to the climate after 1887?
Normal dry climatic conditions returned, leaving farmers vulnerable to drought and wind erosion. Many went bankrupt and were forced to move back east.
What happened in the years after 1900 for American famers?
There were dramatic improvements, as the expanding domestic economy boosted the demand for agricultural production. Exports also increased.
What happened to modernisation and mechanisation?
It spread more widely, helped by farmers’ cooperatives.
How did the federal government aid agriculture?
- The 1902 Reclamation Act: helped irrigation schemed in arid areas
- The 1906 Meat Inspection Act: regulated food quality
- The 1916 Federal Loan Act
- The 1917 Vocational Education Act
Above all, what was the general improvement from 1905?
There was ‘parity’ in the relationship between agricultural prices and incomes, putting farmers at the same levels of ‘buying power’ as the general economy.
What did this parity enable?
Large increases in the land under cultivation. There was a boom in the output of wheat and corn.
What was the agricultural ‘golden age’ enhanced by?
The outbreak of a general European war in 1914. This dislocated world markets and badly damaged the output of America’s international competitors.
What confidence did the war give to farmers?
They were able to buy more land, secure in the knowledge they would receive good prices for everything they could produce.
Why were these boom years slightly misleading?
- There was bound to be a slackening of demand once international markets recovered after WW1.
- Much of the new land brought under cultivation in the boom years was ‘submarginal’ land that was only profitable as long as exceptionally high prices persisted.
