US History - Section 1 Developments in agriculture and the growth of urbanisation

What did the period of 1865 - 1890 see in terms of agriculture and urbanisation ?

Signifcant developments

What did the development of Railroads mean for farming ?

Farming regions were able to transport their produce to the growing urban areas

What were the problems of farming of the Great Plains ?

• Insufficient rainfall / Bad weather

• Poor terrain

How was the lack of timber for fencing in the Great Plains overcome ?

• Wind pumps (drew water from wells)

• Introduction of hardy strains for wheat

• Barbed wire for fencing

Between 1870 - 1900 what did the number of farms double to ?

• 5.7 Million

Between 1870 - 1900 what did the number of cattle treble to ?

• 68 Million

What issues did farmers experience ?

• Debt

• Harvests and markets were often unstable and farmers often borrowed expected income from the harvest

• There was no central banking system - locals charged high rates of interest (From 10 - 40 %)

• Many farmers lived on mortgaged property - banks would foreclose if they couldn’t meet their payments

what did farmers in debt often rely on ?

• Middle men to sell their produce and had to pay steep railway charges to to transport it

By 1900, what were 1 /3 rd of farmers in debt ?

• Tenants

Why were farmers in the more settled area (particularly in North) tend to be more affluent ?

• Families may have been long established in their farms and unburdened with a mortgage

• Transport costs were lower because they were were nearer to the markets

• In the South, the more established farmers were those who accepted Sharecroppers to whom they became creditors

What was the Granger movement ?

• Farmers from the 1870’s joined together in co - operatives and worked together to try to eliminate the middle men and gain control of the purchase of goods and supplying markets

Where was the Granger movement the most popular and why ?

Iowa and Illinois - the two states most affected by debt and high interest rates

By 1890, what did these co - operatives grow to ?

National Farmers Alliance which would then morph into the Peoples / Populist party

Between 1850 - 1900 what did Chicago (major railway hub and centre of meat industry) grow to ?

From 30,000 to 1 Million

By 1900, what did the Union Skyscrapers cover ?

• Over a square mile and supplied 80 % of the meat consumed in the USA

What did the population of New York treble from and to between 1860 - 1900

1 Million - 3.5 Million

By the 1890’s how tall were Skyscrapers being built ?

25 storeys

What did Urbanisation from the Skyscapers benefit many with and what did it help develop ?

• New Job opportunities - Administration and Business management

• Helped develop the new middle class

What were the problems of the Urbanisation from the Skyscrapers (2) ?

• Many lived in Squalor and overcrowded conditions - E.g. officials found 150 lodgers sleeping on filthy floors in 2 buildings in New York

• Political corruption was encouraged through the patronage system whereby people owed favours to local politicians

In 1902, how many Skyscrapers were being constructed in Lower Manhattan in New York only ?

66