Agriculture Revolt

Agriculture was a big business that many farmers took a part in. Due to the rising amount of exports, manufacturing capability, power, and wealth, America began to expand to other parts of the world and used overseas markets to send its goods. Farming became on of the most competitive jobs around this time. Farmers had many problems with the industrialization occurring in this country at the time. There were many factors that contributed to the agrarians' discontent and led to their revolts.

At this time, the machinery was extremely expensive for the farmers to buy. Large-scale farmers were wealthy and considered to be businessmen. These farmers, however, were tied to banking, railroading, and manufacturing. They had to buy expensive machinery in order to plant and harvest their crops. As the rural population began to drop, the farmers who remained were successful in their production (made one of America's "breadbaskets").

Before industrialization became big, farmers used to grow their own food, make their own clothing, and bartered for their other needs. Now, with the high prices, farmers were forced to grow single "cash" crops like wheat or corn, and use their profits to buy other necessities at the general store.

There was also an overproduction of products. This led to lower prices and less money for the farmers. Document E gives a clear example of the results of overproduction and no demand. The low prices and deflated currency frustrated the farmers greatly, and the price of interest was so high so they had to carefully watch their debt.

Monopolies formed all over the country in steel, oil, and railroad companies. These big businesses made it very difficult for other businesses to prosper in the same field. Document F clearly illustrates the direct effects of the monopolies: "They are monopolies organized to destroy competition and restrain trade. Once they secure control of a given line of business, they are master of the situation and can dictate to the two great classes with which they deal--the producer of the raw material and the consumer of the finished product. They limit the price of the ra material so as to impoverish the producer".

Another one of the complaints that the farmers had was the building of railroads all over the country. The government gave land to railroad companies that took up thousands of acres. Some of these railroads cut right through the farmers' land. The railroads did help to transport goods from one end of the country, and they gave the land a high value.

The land in the West was becoming difficult to use. Floods added to the problem of erosion, which had destroyed the soil. There was also a need of expensive fertilizers. Droughts left whole towns abandoned. The farmers' land was also overassesessed and they had to pay high local taxes. Middlemen took a large cut from their selling price of goods that the farmers bought (See cartoon on Document D).

After the depression of the 1870s, the farmers began protesting against being "railroaded" into bankruptcy. The Grange was an organized agrarian group. Their protests were so strong that the midwestern legislatures tried to regulate the railroad monopoly. However, in 1886 the Wabash case came about and it was stated that individual states had no power to regulate interstate commerce.

The Interstate Commerce Act, passed by President Grover Cleveland in 1887, was also passed and it prohibited rebates and pools and required the railroads to publish their rates openly so that they would not cheat the farmers and people (as shown in Document H). It also forbade discrimination against shippers. This act was not as successful as Congress wanted, but it was a step towards Congress regulating business for society's interest. Also, there was a massive incoming of immigrants who were willing to work at a low wage, so labor became cheap. The cheap labor led to a creation of many jobs for the people.

The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry sought to enhance the lives of farmers. They helped improve the farmers' collective plight. They established cooperatively