Chapter 4 1820-1860. Land Act of 1820 began having an effect on the amount of land disposal This...
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Transcript of Chapter 4 1820-1860. Land Act of 1820 began having an effect on the amount of land disposal This...
Land Act of 1820 began having an effect on the
amount of land disposal
This huge disposal to free landowners was unique in the world at the time
Preemption Act of 1841, last liberal land policy
Sanctioned squatting on public land before it went up for auction
Western states had begun to pass laws giving squatters the right to purchase their land at minimum price without going through auction Congress also passed on preemptive laws increasing the rights
to squatters
Huge Growth in this period!
Year US Population
1820 9.6 Million
1860 31.5 million
YearPopulation in the
Northeast Central States
1820 800,000
1860 7 Million
YearPopulation in
MO
1820 66, 000
1860 1.2 Million
Includes OH, IN, IL, MI, WI. This is a 7 fold increase.
This is a 20 fold increase in population.
This period began with human labor still as the main working force.
1.Slavery was politicized in the new territories
Missouri Compromise (1820)
Admitted MO as a slave state and ME as a free state to keep a balance
Prohibited, thereafter, slavery north of 36*30’ parallel
Kansas Nebraska Act (1854)
Repealed MO Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty on issues such as slavery in establishing statehood
2. Immigrants Northern and Eastern interests keep an open immigration
policy to: Fill the territories with free land holders (anti-plantation) Fill industrial jobs that were opening with the migration of
settlers to the west with liberal land policies
It’s estimated that in 1860 over half of the adult male population was foreign-born This increased the gross national product and greatly benefited the
East
YearNumber of individuals immigrating to the US
1820 8,400
1830 20,000
1840 80,000
1850 370,000
1854 428,000
3. Indian Removal was vigorously implemented
Trail of Tears under the Jackson Presidency
These three elements allowed 15 territories to qualify for statehood.
The majority of settlement occurred between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during this period
1.Canals
Beginning in 1815 3200 miles of canals were built in 25 years
These were located mostly in the north near the Great Lakes and in the Ohio River Valley
These were most often financed by state governments
The most successful and longest lived is the Erie Canal because of
topography, water resources, and large, concentrated populations of
the eastern seaboard
• Markets opened up for the sale of agricultural products
through intrastate infrastructure
Railroads
Railroads boomed from 1840-1860 In 20 years, the railroads grew 10 fold: 3000-30,000
miles of track Graduation Act of 1854 made discounted land that
had trouble selling, helping railroads move swiftly across the nation and turn profit
Human Hands to Horse Hooves
A timeline for most advancements, involving
Horse drawn and riding machines, developed:
1820’s and 1830’sdevelopment 1840’s limited commercialization and adoption 1850’s was the widespread boom
Took longer to reach the Midwest in this period because of the Civil War
The boom happened in 1850 for all of the various tools
as the farmer needs advancement in all stages of
cultivation , planting to maintenance to harvest, to be
efficient
Cast Iron Plow
Patented in 1797 used heavily in the north
John Deere Plow (1837)
Iron plow with a steel cutting edge to keep prairie sod from sticking; perfect of settling the Midwest
By 1850s, Deere was mass producing the plow, making it affordable for most
First Combine
Reaper-thresher was the hybrid of Obed Hussy’s reaper and Cyrus McCormick’s thresher became successful by 1855
Old South
(GA, Carolinas)
Labor and capital intensive rice was the principle staple but began to die
•Upper South (KY, TN, VA, MD, Carolinas)
Tobacco over-production depressed prices and decreased yields
Animal agriculture introduced to sustain the land
Deep South (AL, MI, LA, GA)
Cotton and sugar boomed The only mechanization here,
the cotton Gin (1793)
Mechanization was
suppressed in the South by:
Vast slave population Plantation culture Interstate slave trade
The Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley Region
By 1860, pork production was made possible by:
Mechanization: corn surpluses Industrialization: for slaughter and processes carcasses Infrastructure: shipping processed goods to cities
Became highly specialized
Proximity to urban centers in need of produce and dairy (specialization developed)
Unable to compete with Midwestern grains because of efficiency and volume and its own population volume and
climate Established infrastructure (dense railroads and Erie
Canal)
The first to develop high density, urban areas
Establishing large and reliable markets
Commercialization
constituted increased
Mechanization Infrastructure Market access
Commercialization made
large surpluses
possible and profitable
In 1860, land west of a line from St. Paul to Fort Worth
was largely unsettled.
This is the last frontier.
Conditions:1. U.S. citizen or
had filed papers to become one2. 21 years old or
head of family or 14 days military service3. Never fought
against the interests of the U.S.
Terms:1. Live on land 5
consecutive years--if not possible, could buy for $1.25/acre2. Become a U.S.
citizen3. Pay $10 filing fee
best land was already settled
160 acres not enough on High Plains
no attempt to re-locate impoverished urban workers
abuse of cattle ranchers and timber companies
500 million acres were disposed of:
80 million through Homestead Act
108 million through auction
300 million given as grants to railroads
1860 -- 407 million acres in farms
1900 -- 839 million acres in farms
Fa
r
ms
1860
1900
1.9 million
5.5 million
slavery abolished
decreased demand for mechanization
stimulated domestic demand spurred increased production
triumph of family farm system of production over export sensitive, large scale (plantation) agriculture
Agriculture enters into a recession that lasts until 1900
between 1870 - 1880 population increased 26% production rose 53%
meeting high land prices with declining gross incomes
seeking out reasons for tough times on the farms
railroad rates, agribusiness
overproduction
plight in newly settled western states
Organize and act collectively Grange (Patrons of Husbandry) regulate railroad Farmers Alliance form cooperatives
Populist Movement - William Jennings Bryan
Turn to government for assistance USDA - created in 1862 US Army - distributed rations to western settlers
farmers sought relief by urging government to...curb the power of monopolistscreate a flexible and liberal monetary system
reform the tax system
Northeast - dairy, truck crops, fruit
Upper South - tobacco, corn
Deep South - cotton
Midwest - Corn Belt - corn, hogs
Lake States - dairy, forage
Great Plains - wheat
Western Range - cattle/sheep grazing
Pacific West - irrigation - specialty crops