The Last Frontier
In 1860, land west of a line
from St. Paul to Fort Worth
was largely unsettled.
This is the last frontier.
Homestead Act of 1862
Conditions:
1. U.S. citizen or had filed papers to become one
2. 21 years old or head of family or 14 days military
service
3. Never fought against the interests of the U.S.
Terms:
1. Live on land 5 consecutive years--if not possible,
could buy for $1.25/acre
2. Become a U.S. citizen
3. Pay $10 filing fee
Shortcomings of the
Homestead Act
X best land was already settled
X 160 acres not enough on High Plains
X no attempt to re-locate impoverished
urban workers
X abuse of cattle ranchers and timber
companies
1860 - 1900
500 million acres were disposed
of:
80 million through Homestead Act
108 million through auction
300 million given as grants to railroads
Period of Great Farm
Building
1860 -- 407 million acres in farms
1900 -- 839 million acres in farms
F
a
5.5 million
r
m
s
1.9 million
1860
1900
3 Modernization Policies
X 1862
Homestead Act
X 1860
Creation of USDA, with cabinet
status
Morrill Act, creating LGC
X 1862
Impacts of the Civil War
X slavery abolished
X decreased demand for mechanization
X stimulated domestic demand
– spurred increased production
X triumph of family farm system of
production over export sensitive, large
scale (plantation) agriculture
Following the Civil War
XAgriculture enters into a
recession that lasts until 1900
– between 1870 - 1880
population increased 26%
ƒ production rose 53%
ƒ
Hard Times &
The Agrarian Revolt
X meeting high land prices with declining
gross incomes
X seeking out reasons for tough times on
the farms
– railroad rates, agribusiness
X overproduction
X plight in newly settled western states
Farmers’ Response to
Tough Economic Times
X Organize and act collectively
– Grange (Patrons of Husbandry)
regulate railroad
– Farmers Alliance
form cooperatives
– Populist Movement - William Jennings Bryan
X Turn to government for assistance
– USDA - created in 1862
– US Army - distributed rations to western settlers
Post Civil War Recession
Xfarmers sought relief by urging
government to...
– curb the power of monopolists
– create a flexible and liberal
monetary system
– reform the tax system
Emergence of Regional
Specialization
Emergence of
Regional Specialization
X Northeast - dairy, truck crops, fruit
X Upper South - tobacco, corn
X Deep South - cotton
X Midwest - Corn Belt - corn, hogs
X Lake States - dairy, forage
X Great Plains - wheat
X Western Range - cattle/sheep grazing
X Pacific West - irrigation - specialty crops
Post Civil War
Recession/Depression
X creates recognition for the need to address
poverty in rural America
X need for modernization
X requires technology & science & education
X sets the stage for modernization &
development
– technology
– education
– business orientation
– cooperation
Reform
Movement
Prosperity & Depression
1897 - 1933
“What goes up, always comes down.”
1897 - 1910 -- 13 years of unbridled
growth
– farm prices rose
– successfully reduced much of the
drudgery of farm work
– parity rate was favorable
– ratio between farm price and
non-farm goods
Formula for the Good
Life
X Good Life =
f (hard work, thrift, saving,
thinking)
investment, and right
X Golden Age of Agriculture
1914
comparisons
X World War I
1918
1910 base years for Parity
1914 increased demand
X Doubling of farm prices
– bid up land prices -- 70% increase 1913 - 1920
X 1918 War ends--agriculture enters a recession
and in 1920 there was a collapse
– farm prices fell by 50%
– wave of farm bankruptcies
X 1929--nation enters an economic depression
– 1929 - 1933 durable good production fell 80%
farm income declined 40%
The BIG Picture
1897 - 1920 Prosperity
1920 - 1933 Depression
1897 - 1933
The Beginning of Scientific
Agriculture
3 Essential Components
1) The discovery of scientific
relationships
2) The development of new technologies
based upon these scientific
relationships
3) The adoption of new technologies on
farms
The Ups and Downs of
the Farm Economy
1865
Civil
War
ends
1897
1918 1920
1940-1945
1929-1932 WWII
WWI
Great
Depression
Conservation of Natural
Resources
1891 50 million acres of timberland set
aside
1901 President Theodore Roosevelt
elected
1901 Bureau of Forestry (US Forest
Service)
established
1907 150 million acres into National
Forests
1907 Became accepted principle that it
was the proper function of federal
Foundation of Assistance
for Agriculture
1862
Morrill Act
Homestead Act
USDA created
Chronic problems of farmers
• credit
• markets
both addressed by Country Life
Commission--1908
Farm Loan Act -- 1916
Capper Volstead Act -- 1922
Farm Bloc -- major initiatives -- 1920-21
•Packers & Stockyards Act
•Futures Trading Act
•Emergency Agricultural Credit Acts
•Farm Loan Act revisions
In response to economic hardship,
farmers first sought to organize
•Grange Movement -- cooperatives
Secondly they turned to Congress for assistance
•Farm Bloc
•Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry
-- Henry C. Wallace
•Peek-Johnson -- Equality for Agriculture
•McNary-Haugen
•“hunkered down”-- The Great Depression
•New Deal
•WW II
•Technology
What conditions led to the
“Golden Age of
Agriculture”?
Will we ever reach such a
situation again?