American Agriculture Changes

Agriculture was influenced in many circumstances in the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century of the United states. However, major technological innovations, government policies on agriculture, and economic stability all greatly impacted and changed the sole purpose of agriculture in the United States. Therefore, innovations, policies, and the conditions of the economy impacted and shaped the change in American agriculture.

In the late nineteenth century, more than ever technological innovations were happening all the time. Many of these technological innovations impacted agriculture and shaped agriculture completely and revolutionized the way that we use farming today. They helped us make farming easier and a sufficient way

The invention of the Reaper, also helped the farming industry by cutting the time it would take for the farmer to cut the crops and put them into bundles. The steam tractor, also helped with getting stuff done faster since it was powered with steam, so they didn’t have to plow and stuff by hand. The silo was also invented which allowed the farmers to store vast amounts of feed and grains, so they could have a big supply of everything. In the 1890’s agriculture increased in commercialization. This revolutionized the entire industry of people that survived by making profit from agriculture. All these innovations that were introduced allowed farmers to create a mass number of products and allowed to get the job done way faster and easier, but the products still were in good condition. “The Federal government gave huge subsidies to the companies that built the first transcontinental railroad, Union Pacific and Central Pacific.” The railroad was essentially created and was introduced to the public which had a major effect on the consumer part of agriculture and every other industry there was in the United States during the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. The creator of the

The government set this tariff with a goal of helping industrialist and supporting industrialist. This tariff just benefited industrialist all the way around and in no way benefited the people that survived off of producing agricultural goods. The people in the agriculture business, thought it was absurd for the government o put these tariffs on them because farmers were essentially poor, and had no room in this budget to pay high tariffs that the government eventually would impose on them. Farmers were forced to shape the way they live and price their goods because the government in the end wanted to drain them dry of their own money, so America could proceed into a country that thrives on industry and industry only. “Throughout this period, the competition that should be the heart of a free enterprise system was limited by a high protective tariff on imported goods…generally 40-50% of the value of those goods. The tariff meant that a disproportionate share of the cost of government was paid for by those who might have consumed foreign goods or gotten American goods cheaper. Farmers in general and the South in particular were adversely affected by the tariff.” Farmers also usually used the grange motto “I pay for all” to show how they felt about the government imposing stuff to take their money. The farmers got no aid from the government when they