Agriculture in American History
1619: Blacks were needed as a work source because tobacco and rice growing in the South
became too widespread for the existing number of indentured laborers to sustain it. Also, having
too many white indentured servants was risky because outbreaks of unrest such as Bacon’s
Rebellion could occur.
1793: The cotton gin revolutionized Southern agriculture by making it easier to remove the seed
from cotton plants. (The cotton gin was 5000 percent more efficient than a human being). The
demand for cotton increased because it became cheaper to use it in textiles. Cotton spread as
South’s chief crop and intensified the South’s dependence on slave labor.
1834: The McCormick Reaper brought about an end to intensive labor and encouraged the
invention and manufacture of other labor-saving farm implements and machinery. It could
harvest more grain than five men using the earlier cradles.
1862: The Homestead Act gave people 160 acres of land out west which they could keep if they
improved it. This increased the flow of people to the frontier. The Morill Act allowed the
creation of land-grant colleges, which set up institutions in each state to teach agriculture,
economics, and other practical professions. The Bureau of Agriculture
1867: The Grange had more than 1 million members and started out as cooperatives with the
purpose of allowing farmers to buy machinery and sell crops as a group and reap the benefits of
economies of scale. Eventually, the Grange was replaced by the Farmers’ Alliance.
1877: The Munn v. Illinois case allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders,
including railroads; it is regarded as a milestone in the growth of federal government regulation.
1878: The Bland-Allison Act was passed by Congress and required the U.S. Treasury to buy a
certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars. It was a response to the Panic
of 1873.
1886: Wabash v. Illinois severely limited the rights of states to control interstate commerce and
led to the passing of the Interstate Commerce Act. It was an important precedent for regulating
business in the public’s interest.
1887: The Interstate Commerce Act created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) which
regulated railroads and ensured fair rates.
1890: The Sherman Silver Purchase Act increased the amount of silver the government was
required to purchase every month. It was passed in response to the growing complaints of
farmers and mining interests, who had immense debts that could not be paid off due to deflation
caused by overproduction. They urged the government to pass act in order to boost the economy
and cause inflation, allowing them to pay their debts with cheaper dollars.
1892: The Populists organized from the Farmers’ Alliance and held a convention that created a
platform calling for generous coinage of silver, government ownership of railroads and
telegraphs, a graduated income tax, direct election of U.S. senators, and shorter workdays.
WWI: World War I provided an economic boost for farmers because of the amount of food they
had to produce for soldiers abroad.
1920s: The vast amounts of produce that the farmers were pumping out during WWI were not
needed in the post-war era, which caused over production. Produce prices dropped over 50
percent and a prolonged drought in the Midwest turned the region into the Dust Bowl.
1933: The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) provided payments to farmers in return for their
agreement to cut production by up to one-half; the money to cover this program came from
increased taxes.
1961: The Omnibus Farm Bill passed
Agriculture in the South for much of American history had been focused on cash crops
and the success of those cash crops. Farmers had a strong influence in the early politics of the
country (Washington and Jefferson had plantations) but slowly lost their influence until the late
19th century when the Populist movement emerged and farmers started to organize to have their
say in the government. The country has turned from an agrarian nation to far more of an
industrial one; therefore, agriculture has had to have special regulations placed on it to help
protect farmers such as the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the AAA.