© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Agriculture’s Western Advance

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. 1)What were the three principal goals of federal land policy? 2)What were the consensus views of federal land policy and how have those views changed since the 1970s? 3)What were the major capital improvements that increased farm productivity? 4)Who and what did farmers blame for their hard times and what were the true reasons? 5)What were the early institutions that developed from agriculture policy?

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Total land under cultivation more than doubled between 1870 and 1900

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Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres was largely ineffective Most good land was already taken 160 acres was too small to make a living Between 1870 and 1900 less than 1 acre in 5 was homesteaded See also Chapter 8 for more details

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Later homestead acts increased the acreage Between 1900 and 1920, 9 of 10 acres were homesteaded

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Various other acts made land available to encourage timber growth, increase irrigation, clear forests, and mine resources

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Principal goals: 1)Generate revenue for federal government 2)Create accessibility 3)Increase economic growth

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Generally speaking, historians used to believe that federal land policy was inefficient Land was not made available nor were laws enforced in an even-handed manner Lots of fraudulent, manipulative, and illegal behavior took place Many of the land acts did not achieve their objectives

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. What do the facts suggest? Average rates of return on land-related investments equaled or exceeded returns on other available investments Outside the South, real incomes in new areas grew about the same as manufacturing

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. A growing number of historians are now tempering those negative views Even though the means of distribution were inefficient, the end results of invention, innovation, and lower prices are very beneficial See Gates (1976) “An Overview of American Land Policy”

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. As should be expected, settled areas began to specialize in certain crops Noteworthy trends: South remained leader in tobacco By 1900 Texas was leader in cotton Refrigerated railcar in 1880s created a national market for many commodities

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Major changes: 1)New wheat varieties allowed production to move farther north and west 2)New methods to fight insects and diseases

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Important data: Very little increase in land productivity; i.e. bushels per acre Huge increases in labor productivity; i.e. bushels per worker (between 1860 and 1920, the number of people fed per farmer nearly doubled)

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Effects from labor productivity increases: 1)Allowed farmers to manage bigger farms; output per farm increased 2)Required fewer animals for “working” so more acreage could be devoted to cash crops 3)Created surplus farm labor; workers had to move to other industries (and other locations)

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Two distinct periods: 1) ; hardship and political unrest 2) ; sustained improvement

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Farmer’s terms of trade, price of commodities sold divided by price of items purchased, declined

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Foreign and domestic supply and demand forces were mostly to blame Farmers aimed their frustration at Bankers Grain elevator operators Industrialists Railroads

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4 movements: 1)The Grangers First to form cooperatives Montgomery Ward and Co. was created as first large mail-order company to sell to Grangers 2)The Greenback Movement First attempt to affect national politics Later became important part of Populists’ appeal

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. 3)The Alliances Advocated monetary reforms and favored government regulation Also favored government ownership of transportation and communication facilities 4)The Populists Anti monopoly and advocated collectivism (government ownership of banks, railroads, and communication)

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. See Rothstein (1988) “Farmer Movements and Organizations: Numbers, Gains, Losses”

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Division of the Patent Office in 1839 Dept. of Agriculture created in 1862 but its head was not a Cabinet member until 1889

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. The Department of Agriculture Until 1920, 3 principal functions 1)Research and experimentation 2)Distribution of information 3)Regulation of the quality of products

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Agricultural Education Morrill Act of 1862 provided for agricultural training at universities; established “land-grant” colleges

© 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. Since western land was so plentiful, little incentive for conservation existed Between 1891 and 1919, several steps were made to increase conservation efforts Most importantly, public concern was growing Even though effects were small, the foundation was laid for later conservation