Moving west provides a grand opportunity to start over. With so many people moving west the government established the Homestead Act, which gave people over the age of 21 to file a claim for up to 160 acres of land. The best area to end up in was next to the railroads. If you where in that general area then it was much easier to get your merchandise to the market. Eventually their was new inventions like the mechanical harrows, updated plows, mowing and harvesting machines, threshers, and binders. These new tools halved the workers hours.
Speculators where then buying huge pieces of land from the government and then would offer that land for 10 times the original price. Farmers where stuck hosing between expensive land near the railroads or settling in free land far away from anything. When choices where made as to where their farm was going to be the whole family living on the farm had to work, usually around 14 hours a day. Another difficulty that would run into farmers and their land was cowboys and their cows. The cows would march right into the farms and eat anything green, but the cowboys wouldn’t stop them and make them head another direction because where ever they went was then their land. But farmers fixed that by putting barb wire all the way around their property.
I chose to be a farmer because despite all the difficulties that came along, there was usually a fix to that problem. I didn’t chose a miner because that seems to be the most dangerous of the three. Having to worry about the ground above me caving in and breathing dust and specks of rock all day, is something I would not be able to take on. As for being a cowboy that job eventually faded away and had no meaning for a long time.
Running into all these challenges of being a farmer seems like the biggest loss if you don’t look at both sides of the situation. But in reality if you where in the right spot and worked hard this was a big opportunity.
All information in this essay is from the text book “The American Odyssey: A History of the United States” pages 460-485.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In the late nineteenth century, twenty years after the Homestead Act, farmers used their land in the western plains to produce both crops and profits. The farmers of this time struggled in the agricultural way of life by facing economic and political obstacles that were impossible to avoid, requiring them to do something about their complaints. Although the farmers had plausible arguments for most of their criticisms, their beliefs of the silver standard and overproduction sometimes could not be backed up. However, farmers continued to struggle between inevitable issues like the currency debate, constant debt and rising costs.…
- 435 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In the early 1900’s tractors were not yet as advanced as they are today. Oxen pulled the first plows that cut into the prairie sod. They were very inexpensive, making it a good option for a farmer that didn’t have a lot of money. However, oxen were often stubborn and unreliable. As soon as farmers could afford to they replaced their oxen with horses. Although horses were more expensive they were much more obedient than the oxen were. Horses than became the main source of power for most Saskatchewan farmers for decades. The number of horses on Saskatchewan farms grew from 84,000 in 1905 to 507,000 in 1911 and by 1921 there were about 1,169,000 horses on Saskatchewan farms.…
- 119 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
In the period 1865-1900, technology, government policy, and economic conditions all changed American agriculture a great deal. New farming machinery had a large role in the late 19th century, giving farmers the opportunity to produce a lot more crops than they used to. The railroads had an enormous influence on agriculture. They were able to charge the farmers large fees, expenses that farmers barely had enough to cover, in order to transport their goods throughout the expansive country. The booming industry also changed American agriculture, creating monopolies and gaining incredible wealth with which the farmers simply could not compete. Economically, the monetary policy along with the steadily dropping prices of agricultural produce led farmers further into debt, eventually producing outcomes such as the crop-lien system and sharecropping. All of these tie into government policy which favored the large and wealthy industries and monopolies over the farmers.…
- 626 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In 1900-1930 families started buying land and moving to the plains. They would farm cash crops on the land but it was very hard work. The country was already in a depression and also the stock market crash. Their plants failed 5 years in a row. With no income they couldn’t pay mortgages.…
- 298 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Innovations in the technology industry were the driving force of this time period. For example, the maps in Doc B show the spike in railroad production across the nation, not just near major cities. This provided jobs for recent immigrants to make the railroads and a mechanism for individuals to reach the West. Also, once the new land was reached, advances in agricultural tools, such as the plow shown in Doc D, helped farmers to work land that would never be attempted to be used in years past without said tools.…
- 320 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
In the time of the late nineteenth century, the telecommunication revolution, or globalization, was beginning to make its start in American history. Communication and transportation was becoming faster with the new advances in the technological world. This made large businesses grow, creating large fortunes from the new railroad business However, the farmers if America took a hard hit ti these advances. Food prices were decreasing, and farmers were producing more crops than the economy could consume. Because if the changes in economy, the farmers had grown in discontent with the government, and the fingers were being pointed at the large scale business leaders. In the late nineteenth century, the farmers had a valid reason that big businesses were decreasing away the profits of their work, and into the railroad companies and that banks were taking advantage of the farmers, causing the great agrarian discontent.…
- 830 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Farming originally became an attractive occupation because of the successful cultivation of the Great Plains. Settlers were attracted by the short grass pastures for cattle and sheep, the sod of the plains, and by the meadowlands of the mountains that could be found in this region. An influx in rainfall after the 1870s turned the formerly barren plains into workable farmland. The initial journey westward for farmers was by wagon or cart. These journeys were often very difficult and dangerous (Doc E). Climate and the threat of territorial Native Americans in the West made the journeys last for long, grueling months (Doc H). Also, the idea of the farmer's lifestyle was that of the sturdy, independent farmer. However, as drought and debt plagued the farmlands of the Great Plains in the late nineteenth century, fewer farmers sought to be independent and more sought to be commercial (Doc C). The lifestyle of the commercial farmer was reasonably better and less self-sufficient than that of the independent farmer; however, they were still plagued by overproduction and economic distress. The settlement of farmers also contributed to the development of the west in different ways. Farmers helped to create new markets and new outposts of commercial agriculture in the Great Plains for the nation's growing economy. The independent farmer began by cultivating the land and selling to national markets…
- 867 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
the issue of land was one of the largest controversies pertaining to westward expansion. In an era characterized by rapid population growth and economic depression, the pull to move west was strong in the white settlers hoping for a better life. The Homestead Act further encouraged settlers to migrate west. they were attracted to the idea of mining, ranching and lumbering. Mining for gold and silver, because the west was filled with mining regions (doc d). The completion of the transcontinental railroad required rail lines run through territories…
- 424 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Offers of free land under the Homestead Act of 1862 that promised 160 acres to any citizen who settled for a period of 5 years. The construction of the transcontinental railroad facilitated the migration of settlers into the territories. Increasing industrial consolidation occurred between 1870 and 1900. Blizzards, tornadoes, grasshoppers, hailstorms, drought, prairie fires, accidental death, and disease were a few of the many struggles that settlers faced in their migration to the west. The railroads were granted huge swaths of land by both the federal and state governments and actively sold the land for profit to speculators. Speculators made buying land difficult for settlers heading west as they inflated the price of the best quality land.…
- 221 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
The Agricultural Revolution of the West was significantly affected by the relationship of economic developments and environmental changes between 1865 and 1898. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided many new opportunities for farmers to get an abundance of Western land in an affordable manner. While this was great for many farming families who got suitable land, there was a different opinion from those in the Great Plains. They faced great challenges posed by Mother Nature, especially drought. The droughts brought devastation to the crops, and then to the farmers who couldn’t make enough money. However, the farmers were able to make many adaptations that allowed them to grow crops that survive the harsh conditions. The new development of…
- 291 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
It was the time during when the population and the economy of the United States grew fastest in history, and there was too much political corruption. Besides, financial misleading was at their top, and many people who were wealthy lived very fancy lives. During this period that industrialization was so widespread in the United States hence attracted larger populations in the country. Records have it that between 18600 and 1900, 144,000 more new industries were introduced. The number of immigrants increased with increase in industrialization as they came in search of employment. The Native Americans were to be forced by the government to live on the reservations, but the Dawes Act made an attempt to assimilate them hence giving them a farmland. The cattle drives were needed by the railroads, and the barbed wires as the frontier shifted while the settlers moved to the Great Plains. Besides the rapid growth of the economy in this period, there was also much social conflict. Urbanization came with its advantages and disadvantages both to the country and its citizens. Urbanization resulted in negative effects in health, housing, political machines and working conditions. Health centers and housing facilities became less than the population due to overpopulation. People overstretched the available resources since all were in need of and also affected the working conditions in many places of…
- 1508 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
The cattle industry from the 1860s through the 1890s went through growths, declines, and changes; a dynamic industry characterized by hard work, long cattle drives, and the development of ranching, but also racial discrimination towards Native-Americans. It was made possible by the construction of railroads, and led to the creation of “cow towns”, isolated towns located in an area where there was a lot of raising of cattle.…
- 698 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The early 1900's were a time of turmoil for farmers in the United States, especially in the Great Plains region. After the end of World War I, overproduction by farmers resulted in low prices for crops. When farmers first came to the Midwest, they farmed as much wheat as they could because of the high prices and demand. Of the ninety-seven acres, almost thirty-two million acres were being cultivated. The farmers were careless in their planting of the crop, caring only about profit, and they started plowing grasslands that were not made for planting.…
- 753 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Documents A-H reveal some of the problems that many farmers in the late nineteenth century(1880-1900)saw as threats to their way of life.(a)explain the reasons for agrarian discontent and(b)evaluate the validity of the farmers' complaints.…
- 664 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In his Letters from an American Farmer, Michel Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur establishes a strong, determined attitude toward both Europeans and Americans. He points out specifically the idea that many citizens of America were emigrants from Europe. He develops this idea mentioning what he thinks of both these immigrants’ past and current countries. He conveys that he has a strong favor of America over the egregious Europeans through America’s well-founded laws, their wide-ranging opportunity, and their countless ethnic diversities.…
- 384 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays