American Farmers At The End Of The Nineteenth Century example essay topic

AP AM HISTORY DB 6 - (An A+ Essays Original Paper, written by Zoo Patrol) Documents A-H reveal some of the problems that many farmers in the late nineteenth century saw as threats to their way of life. Using the documents and your knowledge of the period, (a) explain the reasons for agrarian discontent and (b) evaluate the validity of the farmers' complaints. At the end of the nineteenth century the American farmers faced many problems. Industrialization of the farms caused many farm workers to loose their jobs. Many farmers began raising only one crop in large amounts, which led to deflation. This meant ruin for many farmers, since they had to pay back the debts they owed for land and machinery.

The railroads, corporations and processors made the situation even worse by organizing together and regulating crop prices. The mechanization of agriculture created a lot of problems for the western farmers. New machinery made crop production much easier and faster. This caused many farm workers to loose their jobs, because such machines as the twine binder and the "combine" replaced them. Also, many farmers saw no need to produce a variety of different crops. Instead, they focused on production of a single crop that they could sell for the most money.

They did not produce food for themselves, since it could be bought from the store using their profits. This single-crop economy worked well as long as the prices were high. However soon the prices soon began to fall. As J. Laurence Laughlin said, "the sudden enlargement of the supply without any corresponding increase of demand produced the alarming fall in price".

Nevertheless, farmers continued producing even greater amounts of crop, hoping that the increased production will bring them bigger profits. This deflation in the economy created many problems for the farmers. Since they borrowed a lot of money to pay for the land and machinery, the farmers now had huge loans to pay off. However the deflation was not entirely their fault. The government was also to blame, since throughout the late nineteenth century it maintained a relatively static money supply.

The population from 1865 to 1895 almost doubled, however money in circulation only increased by about fifty percent. In his acceptance speech, William McKinley said "Debasement of currency means destruction of values. No one suffers so much from the cheap money as the farmers and laborers". This was true, since many farmers were unable to pay off their mortgages. The bankers charged interest rates of up to 40 percent on loans and forced many farmers into bankruptcy. Along with the bankers, the government also cashed in on the farmer's land.

They had to pay huge taxes on the land to local, state and national government. Protective tariffs also decreased he farmer's profits, while benefiting the manufacturers in the east. Another problem for the farmer was the railroad. The "octopus", as the farmers called it, could charge extremely high freight rates on their crop. In his book, The Octopus, Frank Norris described the situation of how Dyke, a farmer, was exploited by the railroad. After realizing that the rate was now five cents, Dyke said in astonishment, "Well that ruins me, I won't make fifty cents.

Make? Why, I will owe... ". This was true since for many farmers it was often more profitable to burn their crop then to ship it. The railroad systems were "monopolies organized to destroy competition and restrain trade" (James B. Weaver). They worked together and set the prices for the crop.

The farmers were unable to organize in such a way to protest, since most of them were independent. Along with all the problems that were caused by man, nature also showed no mercy for the farmer. Grasshoppers plagued the farms. Floods destroyed the soil needed for growing crop. Farmers could not afford fertilizers needed to restore the land. Many of them abandoned their ruined farms and were forced to live with their families elsewhere.

The complaints that the formers issued about the issues outlined above were in many cases valid, however in some they were not. Of course the railroads, processors, and other middlemen did take advantage of the farmers and greatly decreased their profits. The bankers and investors also forced farmers to pay huge interest rates on their loans. Even the government did nothing to stop the deflation that forced many farmers into bankruptcy. However the farmers only had themselves to blame for the overproduction of crop.

Since most of them were unskilled as business people they did not understand that a larger supply would not bring a larger demand.