1775-1820
On Our Own
T
A
The colonial period and the early movements
to a commercial business
A way of life business orientation
modernization vs tradition
Land was an important stimulus to the
overall development of the nation.

Attracted immigrants (the magnet) - first to the
Colonies and then to the new nation

Raised funds for new government

Inducement for service in the military

Used to build schools and educational
institutions
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Financed roads, railroads, and canals

Food production

Encouraged investment/savings

Motivation to participate in a new form of
government (democracy)
Republic of Texas: (1845) won from Mexico 9 years
before finally ceding to the U.S.
Oregon Territory: (1848) purchased from England
Mexican Cession: (1848) from Mexico, the only
military conquest of land

Includes most of the southwest and west coast

If feudalism would have continued in the U.S.
 There would be no family farm
 High inequality: wealthy land owners and many tenants
 Impeded development of democracy, free markets, and new
technology
 Land would still have agreement issues
 There would be no immigration incentives in the coming years

First conflicts between mercantilist and farmers
 Jeffersonian Policies: create an egalitarian, small farm-based
economy
 Hamilton Policies: large farms, capitalistic

never clearly articulated

Hamilton - dispose of land with prudence
 generate revenue to build an industrial sector

Jefferson - free (cheap) land in small tracts
 develop nation of small cultivators
States Established a free land holding Policy
through 5 common policies

1.
Ended feudalistic practices such as primogeniture, quitrents,
and ending proprietary grants
 By the Proclamation of 1763
 Fee Simple Titles were given
 This made land a true commodity, not a private gift
2. Gave land to private individuals instead of state-owned
enterprises which stimulated capitalistic society
3. Selling smaller units of land to build many small communities
4. Use land sales revenues for government debt
5. Use land grants as enlistment incentives

380 Million Acres in US in this period
Midwestern States: (1790-1806) East of the Mississippi
River gradually ceded to the US
Louisiana Purchase: (1803) from France, Doubled the
Area of the US
Florida: (1819) From Spain obtained from Spain and
included the important sea access to and from the
Mississippi River

During the Articles of Confederation
 Conservative distribution
 New England practice of careful planning; Failed to maintain its
tradition of purposeful, directed growth
 All white males could hold land

Ordinance of 1785:
 Permitted for new territories to be explored and surveyed for
distribution
 Did not, however, provide for administration controls on
disposal
 Mandated 5 sections be reserved for government and one
section for public school (a New England ideal)

Northwest Ordinance of 1787:



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Established the Northwest Territory
Equal rights as the other states (with statehood)
Statehood granted when population reached 60,000 free men
Guaranteed religious freedom and prohibited slavery
The Ordinance of 1875 established land surveys of
township size, 640 acres.

 Land prices were cheap because the amount of land flooded the
market, driving prices down
 Because settlers could not afford to buy or use that much land,
speculators bought townships from the government and sold it
at higher prices to settlers
 Cash only transaction between speculator and government
(Confederation was low on funds)
Settlers generally could only clear one to three acres of land a year.
80 Acres
1 Section
=
640 Acres
=
1 Square Mile
160 Acres
320 Acres
36 Sections
in a
township
1.
Indian conflicts continued
2.
Individual States had their own,
often conflicting disposal policies


Territories were connected with and
controlled by existing states
Ex. New York and Pennsylvania
3.
Settlers were unable to pay for such large tracts of
land which :
A. Slowed westward movement and settlement

Credit intuitions were slow to develop, since settlement was
slowed and high risk
B. Land Speculation began as a result of poor administration,
leadership, and organization

Debts to speculators were common and would soon be a serious
problem
C. Created more squatters

A shift in land policies occurred because
 The ratification of the Constitution combined with…
 an increased demand for land from a population boom
 finical/political pressures

Land Act of 1796
 First land act under the constitution
 No change in the minimum purchase amount (640 ac)
 Price of land Increase to $2.00/ac
 Paying $1280!
 First substantial credit which provided for 1 year to pay for land

Land Act of 1800 and 1804

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
Representatives form the South and West wanted liberalization
Decreased minimum purchase to 320 acres
Increased credit, up to 4 years to pay debt
Greatly increased the disposal of land, especially during the cotton
boom (1/2 of all debt was owed in Alabama and Mississippi)
Importance of this Act:
 Increased land sales and speculation
 Failed at earning money for the government (by 1819 only half the
land had been paid for)
 When farmers/speculators could not pay, they asked congress for
relief. They got it, 12 times
 Congress was basically underwriting land speculation

Land Act of 1820




Reduced the minimum sale to 80 acres
Reduced the minimum price to $1.25 an acre
Abolished credit
Purpose was to help successfully earn revenue for the
Government
 Was a great help for the small farmer that was flooding the west
There was also a huge amount of land given as
military bounties

 73.5 million from 1775-1855

1790: 4 million people in the new nation
 95% rural population
 Rural was synonymous with farming

Hearty farmers from the Eastern Seaboard

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Younger sons and daughters of established communities
Land speculators
Traders
Soldiers

2 main routes during expansion
 Virginia Valley (moving Southwest)
 Pittsburg along the Ohio River
Conditions and terms of public land sales
1.



The size of land was too much for any one person
The cost combined with the minimum size was too much
Created land speculation

This failed as a profit making enterprise, because farmers could
not even pay speculators
Lack and price of Credit
2.

Few institutions (if they existed) in settlements offered credit
at feasible rates because


The merchants were usually borrowing too
There was a high rate of default
Lack of markets
3.



No western population or infrastructure to transport
surpluses
Without incentive to grow, subsistence farming continued
This however was not the case in the south with many rivers
and varying culture and crops
Result of these 3 problems: the Farmer-Speculator:


As a way to make money and because small plots of land were
not being sold, farmers would clear and settle (build shelter) on
a few acres and attempt to sell it

They ran into the same problems: migrating settlers did not
have the money to afford the property

However, this meager property was the only possession worth
anything because of poor farming techniques

Exhaustive farming was still
being practiced because of
a) Abundant land
b) Scarce labor
c) No real means of commercial
agriculture because of poor
infrastructure and technology
Severe shortage began in 1810 and would last for
another 30 years

 This was because of competition from a new and booming
industrial sector
 This began a stronger need for farm mechanization
“Although many factors play a part in any rural
stratification system, without question, ownership
and access to the land is the key factor.”
325XW Discussion Question
Why is land ownership central to
understanding rural stratification in our
society or any other nation?

Unpaid family labor
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Paid family labor
Unpaid family labor
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Paid non-family labor
Paid family labor
Unpaid family labor
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Tenant-sharecropper
Paid non-family labor
Paid family labor
Unpaid family labor

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Part-owner operator
Tenant-sharecropper
Paid non-family labor
Paid family labor
Unpaid family labor
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Full-owner operator
Part-owner operator
Tenant-sharecropper
Paid non-family labor
Paid family labor
Unpaid family labor
A model of social mobility is agriculture.
Is it still relevant?

Tribal (communal)
 access and rights to land existed by virtue of their membership in
the relevant social units
 Native Americans, Amana Colonies

Feudal (Western Europe)
 took root in Colonies
 serf (peasant) attached to land

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Rental system
Owner-operator
Large scale business
 state farms, collectives, corporations
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Family Farm
Hacienda
Plantation
Estate
Corporate
State Owned/Privately Managed
For Jefferson and other agrarians, in the 18th
Century small farms were championed for political
and social reasons.
OFreedom
OIndependence
OSelf-reliance
OAbility to resist oppression
Dominant
Cultural
Values
The right to own land ensured the right to a
job and freedom of occupational choice.
•Seedbed of democracy and independence
•Full employment policy
•Guaranteed competitive market structure