emergent market agriculture in the us eco-ag program october 10, 2003 chad kruger

Emergent Market Agriculture in the US

Eco-Ag Program

October 10, 2003

Chad Kruger

I. Introduction Important questions to think about as we discuss the emergence of market agriculture in the US?

• Why is the US agricultural system so different than agriculture in other parts of the world, such as Europe?

• Why did / does “Euro” American land use differ so greatly from Native American land use?

• Why are farmers and rural people so marginalized and disconnected from each other and the rest of society?

• What precipitated the rapid expansion and development of agriculture in the US?

I. Introduction

II. Coming to America

A. European Agriculture

i. The Village

a. structure

Role of the Village

• “Organic Community” – Danbom

living; forming an integral element of a whole; having systematic coordination of parts

• Self-sufficient, subsistence community

• Society center: religion, education, welfare, economy

• Political: decision making structure

I. Introduction



i. The Village

a. structure

b. tenure

Village Tenure

• feudalism, landlords, manors, serfdom

• common property management, community crop planning (diversity for subsistence)

• private property, limited specialization

• enclosure

I. Introduction



i. The Village

ii. Paradigm Shifts

What caused the changes in Europe that lead to the

colonization of the Americas?

• Power shifts – Magna Carta, The Black Plague, Reformation

• Opening of European culture – Crusades, Marco Polo, Columbus

• The New World

I. Introduction



B. Native American Land Use

i. The Village

a. Mobility

The Native American Village

• Defined by its mobility• “Settlement” of a few hundred

people - primarily extended families, not a fixed size

• Seasonality and availability of food sources

• Dwellings and possessions had to be readily moved (or left)

I. Introduction




i. The Village

a. Mobility

b. land tenure

Native American Land Tenure

Native Americans had various forms of land tenure – from

‘private property’ to multiple-village (Tribal) communal lands. As with any other

society, increasing population densities force changes in

tenurial systems.

I. Introduction




i. The Village

ii. Agriculture

Native American Agriculture

William Cronon claims that “the crucial distinction between Indian communities was whether or not they had

adopted agriculture.”

I. Introduction




i. The Village

ii. Agriculture

a. New England

Native American Agriculture

• For New England Native Americans, the Kennebec River seemed to be the dividing line between cultivators and more traditional “hunter-gatherer” villages.

• North of the Kennebec River, Villages moved more frequently based on the seasonally available diet.

• South of the Kennebec River, villages moved less frequently.

• “Hunger” in the winter – it was not uncommon for Natives to go long stretches of the winter without food – seemed to have a physical resistance to it.

• Population densities – 41/100 sq miles in North to 287/100 sq miles in South

I. Introduction




i. The Village

ii. Agriculture

a. New England

b. Footprint

Native American Footprint

How “lightly” did Native Americans live in their

environment?

I. Introduction




i. The Village

ii. Agriculture

a. New England

b. Footprint


• Wildlife “management practices” such as burning forests – not only concentrates wildlife for hunting, but actually promotes wildlife populations.

• Menominee forestry in Wisconsin - we know that the Menominee tribe had been actively managing their forest for at least 500 years before the first white settlers in Wisconsin – for multiple benefits, such as timber, wildlife, agriculture and medicinal plants.

• Whidbey Island – assisted propagation of camas by burning prairies, garden beds, etc.

I. Introduction




i. The Village

ii. Agriculture

a. New England

b. Footprint


Is there a common determinant of land use among all

human societies?

• Population density?• Climate?

I. Introduction




C. Settlement and Colonization

i. Reasons for coming to America

Reasons for coming to the Americas

• Commercial exploitation Virginia Company, a stockholder company

designed to return profit to its shareholders – as well as to establish a

colony in the Americas

• Religious and political freedom– Plymouth Colony 1620 (Pilgrims)– Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629-30)

Puritans – Pennsylvania – refuge founded by

William Penn for Quakers– Maryland – founded by the Calverts for

Catholics

• Petty Crime (Debt)Option for debtors rather than death or incarceration

I. Introduction

II. Coming to America A. European Agriculture B. Native American Land Use C. Settlement and Colonization i. Reasons for coming to

America

ii. Patterns of settlement

Patterns of Settlement

• Colonies, charters, land grants- Companies are provided large land grants in exchange for establishing a colony and exporting resources back to England

• North vs. South– Northern settlements tended to be

dominated by religious communities that were able to “recreate” English society

– Southern settlements tended to be more spread out – importance of commercial cultivation of tobacco – tobacco would wear out the soil after a couple of years, so farmers had to continue moving their cultivated fields for tobacco – English bounty on tobacco ensured that it would be cultivated.

I. Introduction


America ii. Patterns of settlement


• Subsistence vs. commodities– Everyone had to be concerned about

subsistence first. Trade agreements and bounties between England and the southern colonies encouraged them to invest more in commodity production (tobacco and indigo)

– Depressed commodity prices encouraged southern planters to capitalize on indentured servitude and African slavery as cheap labor to increase the plantation size of commodity production. This had a long-term impact of increase landholding.

I. Introduction


America ii. Patterns of settlement


• Tenurial relationships– The question of enclosure. Northern

communities quickly ran into the same questions of common property as they had dealt with in England. The answer to many of those problems was to enclose property with fencing – essentially exerting their private property rights

– The question of inheritance. Northern and Southern farmers also had to quickly deal with the issue of inheritance. Southern farmers practiced primogeniture --- passing lands to the oldest son. Other sons either found other occupations, became tenants or moved west. Northern farmers tended to reform land by splitting it for heirs, or picking up stakes and moving to new lands. Children also tended to be much older before taking over family operations.

I. Introduction





i. Reasons for coming to America

ii. Patterns of settlement

iii. Colonial Influence

Colonial Influence

• Taxes and bounties• Markets and trade• Specialization in commodity

production• Indentured Servitude• Slavery

I. Introduction





III. Moderate Revolutionaries

The American Revolution was a revolution of moderate ends

The goals were political and social liberation, not

egalitarian democracy

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

Why we drink coffee instead of tea?

Boston Tea Party – The Sons of Liberty dumped 342 crates

of tea into the Boston Harbor in protest of English

tea tax.

I. Introduction

II. Coming to America A. European Agriculture B. Native American Land Use C. Settlement and Colonization

III. Moderate Revolutionaries A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia

The minute man militia

Farmers were the militia of the colonies. The romantic idea of the American

aristocracy as the soldiers of the Revolutionary War is misleading – they

did have roles, such as George Washington, and they did risk life and property – but farmers were the ones

who gave the most. Many of the regulars in the Continental Army were

sons of farmers who would not be inheriting land.

How is this different than the “military garrisons” of previous wars?

I. Introduction


III. Moderate Revolutionaries A. Tea and Taxes B. Militia

C. Reduced Isolation

Reduced Isolation and the building of a new politics

• Because villages were not the center of most agricultural settlement in the colonies, people had become very isolated before the war. The opportunity for soldiers to meet people from other places helped share ideas and reduce insular thinking.

• The excitement over building a new political apparatus – fueled the reduction of isolation – the Shay’s Rebellion was in fact a rebellion against a perceived re-establishment of tyranny.

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia


D. Republicanism vs. Federalism

Republicanism vs. Federalism

• Jefferson vs. Madison & Hamilton

• Rural and agricultural interests (civics) vs. Commercial and industrial interests

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution

i. Agricultural issues

The Constitution

What were the main issues related to agriculture?

• Uniformity in economics/trade• Currency• Rural/agricultural vs.

urban/commercial interests

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution


ii. Shays’ Rebellion

Shays’ Rebellion

“Strange that the ungrateful multitude should turn upon the illustrious patriots, who

led them to seek such happiness” – John Mallet, a

British observer.

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



Shays’ Rebellion

• Demand for specie (currency) to pay debt, created a chain of debt from English traders, American wholesalers and merchants, farmers

Compounded by increasing tax burden

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



Shays’ Rebellion

• 1782, Samuel Ely led an armed attack on Hampshire County Courthouse – beginning of Massachusetts Regulators

Attempted to promote paper money and tender legislation

Government opted for forceful resistance. Anti-Shaysite legislation, suspension of habeas corpus. Establishment of Lincoln’s state army. Escalated Shaysite objectives

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



Shays’ Rebellion - Violence

• Battle over federal arsenal at Springfield on January 25 – Lincoln victory – Shaysites plan to overthrow MA government - -needed stores from Springfield

• February 4th, Lincoln’s army attacks and scatters Shaysites at Petersham. 2000 Shaysites fled to Vermont.

• Shaysite raids continued against merchants and government supporters through June 1787.

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



Shays’ Rebellion - Resolution

• June – new elections – half of MA government replaced, but continued Anti-Shay legislation. Surrounding states supported MA government - -anti-Shaysite.

• No British support for Shaysites. • Migration and resettlement in the

west. • Economic recovery – exports

outweighed imports in 1787.

I. Introduction


III. Moderate Revolutionaries A. Tea and Taxes B. Militia C. Reduced Isolation D. Republicanism vs. Federalism E. The Constitution i. Agricultural issues


Shays’ RebellionImplications for Constitution

• Shaysites (anti-federalist) opposed the adoption of a federal constitution

• “for throwing the whole power of the federal government into the hands of those who are in the mercantile interest; and for the landed, which is the greatest interest of this country, to lie unrepresented, forlorn, and without hope.” - Cornelius

I. Introduction


III. Moderate Revolutionaries A. Tea and Taxes B. Militia C. Reduced Isolation D. Republicanism vs. Federalism E. The Constitution

IV. Agricultural Development

What precipitated agricultural development and expansion

in the US?

I. Introduction




A. Government promotion

Government promotion of agricultural development

• Promotion of trade – debtor nation – agricultural products were the only positive

balance of trade product from the young nation

• Purchase of landThe Louisiana Purchase, California, annexing

Texas, purchase of Florida, etc.

• Promotion of settlement – Basic Land Ordinance of 1785

This is the Township, Range and Section Ordinance that created a systematic

method for allocating land for settlement.

I. Introduction



IV. Agricultural Development A. Government promotion

B. Expansion

Expansion into new lands

• speculation and the development of a land market

Danbom makes the statement that “good or bad, speculators were inevitable. . .” Why

is this the case?

Functional land markets require information sharing – speculators (realtors, etc.) are

part of that information sharing apparatus.

• The “Indian Question” Westward expansion of Europeans – and the

European world view – necessitated the removal or at least the assimilation of

Native American Populations.

I. Introduction



IV. Agricultural Development A. Government promotion B. Expansion


• Frontier lifeSubsistence first . . . market second – the

desire for ownership of land was a driving factor in westward expansion – can’t be disassociated with the desire to market

agricultural products

• Transportation/MarketsRivers and canals were the routes, greatly

improved by the Louisiana Purchase (New Orleans) and the removal of hostile Native

Americans

Flatboats were replaced by the Steam Boat – which could travel upriver as well as

downriver

I. Introduction





• Changing structure and character of rural communities The introduction of US currency after the Constitution, enabled formal markets for credit and commodity trade. What does currency do

to a society?

• Establishment of Commodity Centers – Manufacturing in Pennsylvania and the

Northeast – New York City became the capital – Cincinnati became the pork capital– St. Louis became the “Gateway to the

West”– Kansas City became the destination for

cattle drives – Chicago would ultimately become the beef

slaughter capital

I. Introduction





• Shift from Rural to Urban

In spite of the availability of land, and the number of people settling in the

west, the shift to an “urban” population began in earnest.

Manufacturing job opportunities, limited agricultural opportunities in the Northeast, civic opportunities

encouraged people to leave the farm and move to the cities.

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



B. Expansion

C. Technological Innovation

Technological Innovations

• Cotton Gin – Eli Whitney 1793– 1793, 180,000 pounds of cotton/year– 1810, 93,000,000 pounds of

cotton/year – One person could clean 1 pound of

cotton/day, with Whitney’s cotton Gin, one person could clean 50 pounds of cotton/day

– Cotton Gin made cotton a profitable commodity – land and labor – westward expansion and slavery

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



B. Expansion



• McCormick’s Reaper – 1834– One person could cut

between one and three acres of grain/day, the reaper enabled them to cut between 12 and 15 acres/day

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



B. Expansion



• Steamboat – Fulton’s Clermont 1807 – 150

mile trip from NYC to Albany

I. Introduction

II. Coming to America A. European Agriculture B. Native American Land

Use C. Settlement and

Colonization

III. Moderate Revolutionaries A. Tea and Taxes B. Militia C. Reduced Isolation D. Republicanism vs.

Federalism E. The Constitution

IV. Agricultural Development A. Government promotion B. Expansion C. Technological Innovation

D. Rural Institutions

Rural Institutions

• Nuclear Family– Family farm – not village based ag like

Europe, tenurial relationships– Family as the central institution of

society

• Neighbors– Dependence on neighbors, many of

them related– Barn Raising

• Church– Moral center of community– Social center of community (weddings,

potlucks, celebrations)

I. Introduction

II. Coming to America A. European Agriculture B. Native American Land

Use C. Settlement and

Colonization

III. Moderate Revolutionaries A. Tea and Taxes B. Militia C. Reduced Isolation D. Republicanism vs.

Federalism E. The Constitution

IV. Agricultural Development A. Government promotion B. Expansion C. Technological Innovation


Rural Institutions

• Shools– Farmers tended to come together to

finance schools, set curriculum, schedules

• Ethnicity– Considerably influential in settlement

patterns– Norwegians in Minnesota, Germans in

Wisconsin, etc.

• Slavery– South of the Mason-Dixon line– Addition of new states to the union

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



B. Expansion



V. Civil War

A. Impacts

What impacts did the Civil War have on agriculture in

the US?

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



B. Expansion



V. Civil War

A. Impacts

Impacts of the Civil War

• Forced Structural Change (labor loss, production needs)

– Sons and fathers left to join the army– Women took over farm operations and

labor– Slave labor became more difficult to

manage– Technology change, particularly in the

North enabled more people to leave for the army

– Increased need for production – to feed the armies, to export for currency

I. Introduction






A. Tea and Taxes

B. Militia



E. The Constitution



B. Expansion



V. Civil War

A. Impacts


• Transportation improvements– Railroads!! Railroads, bridges,

etc. built to support the war effort

I. Introduction



IV. Agricultural Development A. Government promotion B. Expansion C. Technological Innovation D. Rural Institutions

V. Civil War

A. Impacts


• Diminishing markets for Southern Commodities

– European countries already looking elsewhere for tobacco and cotton – reaction to slavery --- England and France had already outlawed slavery and were trying to reduce their dependence on southern cotton/tobacco

– Inconsistent cotton supply to England/France compelled those countries to look to Africa and India for supplies

I. Introduction




V. Civil War A. Impacts


• Union Military victories– Vicksburg and New Orleans – Union

controlled the Mississippi – enabled products from the west to reach the North

– Union blockade of the South – disrupted southern trade with Europe

– Devastating marches through the South: Sherman – Atlanta, Sherridan – Shenendoah Valley, Wilson – Alabama – not only the military campaigns, but the looters that followed. Plantations, factories, crops, infrastructure destoryed

I. Introduction




V. Civil War A. Impacts

B. Slavery

Slavery

• Slavery was already in jeopardy . . . European terms of trade

• Emancipation Proclamation – galvanizing the North behind Lincoln, solidifying shaky war support

I. Introduction




V. Civil War A. Impacts B. Slavery

C. Changing Perspectives

Changing Perspectives

• Reconstruction and agricultural change in the South

– What to do after slavery?– Sharecropping– Rebuilding infrastructure

• Westward Expansion– What to do with veterans?– Focus on recovery and expansion as a

means of putting the war behind

• Institutional formation– Establishment of the primary

agricultural laws and institutions that we have today.

I. Introduction




V. Civil War A. Impacts B. Slavery C. Changing Perspectives

Conclusion

Colonialization, settlement and expansion of agriculture in the US have largely been impacted by a set of social, political, and economic ideologies and institutions:

• Rural/agrarian vs. urban/commercial interests

• Government promotion of expansion• Rural institutions• Technological change

Study Questions

1. Explain whether you think it is possible to deduce that there are common (universal) determinants of land use among all human societies and what some determinants might be.

2. Throughout ‘modern’ history there have been indications of an urban-rural bias, such as the issues that gave rise to organized action/violence in the Shays’ Rebellion. Do you agree that urban-rural bias is a legitimate problem? Why do you think that there has been limited “organized action” by farmers/rural citizens in the US since the Shays’ Rebellion?

3. In the book Elements of Confederate Defeat, five Civil War historians argue that while the Confederate states lost the military campaign and the institution of slavery, they in fact achieved more of their “war aims” (ie. reasons for going to war) than did the Union states. Is this a fair assessment in relation to agriculture?

emergent market agriculture in the us eco-ag program october 10, 2003 chad kruger

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