1865 To 1900 Dbq

Improved Essays
APUSH 1865-1900 Essay

The period of time between 1865 and 1900 was one of great technological advancement; and, as a result, great agricultural advancement. As railroads were built throughout the country, transport for crops and livestock was able to be done with more ease and convenience. Innovations in farming equipment allowed for healthier crops and livestock, as well As new tools were invented, and old ones were innovated, the harvest of crops and maintenance of livestock became more efficient. With these advances came a spike in the profitability of agriculture.
Prior to the expansion of the United States’ railroad system, transporting goods was a strenuous and often times dangerous endeavor. Around 1870, the railroad system started
…show more content…
This increase in profits only applied to the upper class, the owners of the fields and equipment. The workers on the farms received very little money for the crops and products they produced, with overproduction being cited as the cause for the low pay (Document G). This doesn’t mean that there really wasn’t an issue with the prices of crops. The prices for wheat, cotton, and corn were each decreasing in cost from 1865-1900, eventually costing only quarters per bushel. However, as prices decreased, production increased by a huge amount. In 1900 599 Million bushels of wheat were produced, as opposed to the 254 Million produced 30 years earlier (Document A). This increase in productivity effectively cancelled out the decrease in price, and caused profit leaps.
In the 35 years between 1865 and 1900, many advances were made in the field of agriculture. These innovations affected every area of agriculture from transport to harvest to the handling of livestock. The new inventions caused a rise in the popularity of farming and, as a result, the profitability of agriculture. This time period truly was an age of industrializing and improving agriculture as a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Agriculture is one of the main cornerstones of American history, from the Native Americans, to the tobacco fields of Jamestown, to our modern day lives. The United States agriculture system has gone through many changes, but few have been as important as the introduction of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of the New Deal and the later reversal of the act that came in the 1970s under the hand of Earl Butz, which remains in place today. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was put in place in 1933 to “rescue farmers from the disastrous effects of growing too much food” (Ganzel, Pollan 49). Butz’s plan, on the other hand, reversed the AAA and worked to drive down prices and increase the output of farmers (Pollan 52). The policies had both advantages and disadvantages, but it seemed as if everyone one benefited, more or less, from both.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Where would our world be today if the Transcontinental Railroad simply didn’t exist? The Railroad impacted us in many ways, but I believe that we were impacted most economically. The Transcontinental Railroad impacted the United States Economically because, it transformed towns to boosting economic hotspots, lowered the general cost for shipping across hefty distances, and increased revenue from exports and imports dramatically. The railroad transformed towns like Lovelock, Nevada into economic hotspots.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the last one hundred years, the cotton farmers face numerous difficulties and challenges within the United States. The cotton farmers finally overcome these difficulties with the help of the people within the United States, Therefore, there were many institutions that helped farmers gain success over the hundred years, for example, the government, Monsanto, and other technology scientists and researchers. To begin with, the government was the first institution that helped the farmers gain success in the United States. The government role was to help the farmers overcome their problems and provided them with protection.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Market Revolution Dbq

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the first half of the nineteenth century, economic changes called by historians “the market revolution” transformed the United States. Innovations in transportation and communication sparked these changes. In the colonial era, technology had barely advanced—ships did not become faster, no canals were built, and manufacturing was done by hand. Roads were scarce and slow. In 1800, most farm families were not tied to the marketplace, used little cash, and produced much of what they needed at home.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gilded Age Dbq Analysis

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Populist DBQ The Gilded age is a term coined by Mark Twain to describe the period after the Civil War, specifically the period of 1865-1900. The Gilded age was a time of great change in the United states, it was dawn of new technology, government policy, and economic status, and changed the conditions of the American life for everyone. On paper, this Post-Civil War era seems like a period in the U.S. that was fueled by selfishness, corruption, and government misconduct, but in reality there were some very positive changes happening throughout this period. During this time there was a considerable movement for Black equality; notable proponents included Booker T. Washington and Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, who had both had very different plans for…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Validity of argument When I think about the continued interest of integrating technology into human evolution, the first thought that comes to mind is chaos that the possibility of a hierarchy of genetically modified people would cause. The fear that Humans would become obsolete, and becoming highly dependent on technology; examples include sending emails rather instead of a letter, human labor is being replaced with machines in sectors like manufacturing with robots. When I think of all the problems that would be eliminated in a world of growing Transhumanism, the progress and the solutions it provides are just too enticing. Because of our need of survival, humans over time have used technology to improve their way of living.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Industrialization Dbq

    • 1685 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Farmers in the United States during the industrialization were impacted by problems that affected them. The farmers in America were beginning…

    • 1685 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Farmers had to deal with overproduction. More and more crops were put in the market. Unfortunately, this deflated the prices farmers could demand for their goods. Farmers were growing several crops and were not making any money. If someone compared cotton production and the values during the Gilded Age, they would see the issues the farmers have.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Bracero Shortage In Mexico

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Thirdly, it changed the growing landscape because cheap labor became unavailable to farmers after the Bracero Program’s termination that led to the mechanization of agriculture. This resulted in new machines taking over large-scale farming. Lastly, it enabled the growth of U.S. agribusiness. This was due to growers profiting from the work Braceros conducted, thus leading to them increasing the size of their plots of land and being able to afford the expenses of…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sydnie Holder 3.9.16 Mr. Modica Early American History Impacts of the Transcontinental Railroad Since the dawn of time man has strived to be on the move, exploring the unknown and seeking news ways of getting from one point to another. The innovation of transportation gave people the gift of exploration and traveling to places they have never been able to go before. During the early 1800s the main modes of travel were wagons, horses or on-foot, causing travel to be difficult and sluggish. This drove people to discover a more efficient way of travel, which resulted in the creation of trains. Due to this invention people were able to travel farther and at faster paces.…

    • 1783 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The agriculture revolution led to the increase in productivity due to new technological inventions, like seed drill and presentation of new crops. This allowed to increase the output, which fed rapidly growing population in low prices with less effort like never before and population had a chance to buy other manufactured goods. Importantly, it excluded British peasantry by monopolizing the lands, as a consequence the farm employment reduced, after which farmers started to move to urban areas and created a labor force for new industries. Thus, agricultural revolution completed two functions: increased population which meant greater demand for goods, availability of people who was ready to work in industries ,and capital to be used in modern sectors of economy. (Hobsbawm 1962, chap. 2)…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1890-1925 Dbq Analysis

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During the period 1890-1925, the effects on the role of American women had significantly changed their positions politically, economically, and socially. These political changes assert how women’s demanded equal rights, had an expansion of responsibilities and little political power, and the access to birth controls. The economic changes also involved women’s that were needed in the workplace, the right to vote, and growth of the women’s conditions. Not only this, but the social changes includes the stereotypes given to women and having no voice of opinion in politics.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Land owning families bought more land because they did not have to hire other farmers to help them with the crops. To make farming even easier, scientists started constructing chemicals to modify everyday crops, then they began to invent equipment that made it easier to plant, maintain, and harvest the crops. For example, tractors, combines, and hail bailers were created to make farming easier and more manageable. A significantly less amount of people began to work the land and more people worked in factories to process and change the food.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Capital that was previously tied in the agriculture sector could be released into the industry once food supply reached a sustainable level. Farming transformed into an activity of commercial value rather than for self-sufficient. Farmers will now be competing against one another which reduces inefficiency and produces a higher income that could be converted into savings. However, gross investment only rose from 6% of GDP in 1760 to 12% in 1840 as shown by Allen (2005, p2), indicating more towards a change in technological advances during the Industrial Revolution that led to higher investment rate rather than agricultural sector that contributes to higher investment…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Before the Transportation Revolution, in 1815, most Americans lived on a farm and made or bartered for everything their family would need. At the time transporting goods was very expensive and made selling crops unprofitable and also a harsh way to make a living. Through the use of railroads and canals this problem dissipated. By the time it was 1850 these modes of transportation had reduced the cost of transportation by 95 percent (Clark). With transport expenses no longer an issue farmers were free to grow as many crops as they could sell, shipping them to markets everywhere.…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays