Historical Timeline — 1840
Economic Cycles
1844-56
Recovery and business expansion
1857-60
Panic of 1857 and recovery
Farm Economy
1850-61
The South, with its primarily agricultural economy, is politically strong
Farmers & the Land
1840
Total population: 17,069,453; farm population; 9,012,000 (est.); farmers 69% of labor force
1841
Pre-emption Act gives squatters first rights to buy land
1845-55
Potato famine in Ireland and the German Revolution of 1848 greatly increase immigration
1845-53
Texas, Oregon, the Mexican cession, and the Gadsden Purchase added to the Union
1849
Gold Rush
1850
Total population: 23,191,786; farm population; 11,680,000 (est.); farmers 64% of labor force; Number of farms: 1,449,000; average acres: 203
1850s
Successful farming on the prairies begins; with the California gold rush, the frontier extends to the Pacific coast
1850-62
Free land is a vital rural issue
1854
Graduation Act reduces price of unsold public lands
Farm Machinery & Technology
1840s
Factory-made agricultural machinery increases farmers' need for cash and encourages commercial farming
1841
Practical grain drill patented
1842
First grain elevator, Buffalo, NY
1843
Sir John Lawes founded the commercial fertilizer industry by developing a process for making superphosphate
1844
Practical mowing machine patented
1847
Irrigation begun in Utah
1849
Mixed chemical fertilizers sold commercially
1850
About 75-90 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 ½ acres) of corn with walking plow, harrow, and hand planting
1850-70
Expanded market for agricultural products spurs adoption of improved technology resulting increases in farm production
1854
Self-governing windmill perfected
1856
Two-horse straddle-row cultivator patented
1858
Mason jars, used for home canning, were invented
Crops & Livestock
1840
Justus von Liebig's Organic Chemistry
1840-50
New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are the chief wheat States
1840-60
Hereford, Ayrshire, Galloway, Jersey, and Holstein cattle are imported and bred
1849
First poultry exhibition in the United States
1850s
Commercial corn and wheat belts begin to develop; wheat occupies the newer and cheaper land west of the corn areas, and is constantly forced westward by rising land values and the encroachment of corn; alfalfa grown on the west coast
1858
Grimm alfalfa introduced
Transportation
1840
3,000 miles of railroad track constructed
1845-57
Plank road movement
1850s
Major rail trunk lines from eastern cities cross the Appalachian Mountains; steam and clipper ships improve overseas transportation
Agricultural Trade & Development
1840-49
Agricultural exports: $90 million/year or 65% of total exports
1850-59
Agricultural exports: $189 million/year or 81% of total exports
1851-60
Cotton exports: $124 million per year or 54% of total exports
1854-57
Crimean War provides boom for U.S. agricultural exports, especially wheat
Life on the Farm
1840-60
Growth in manufacturing brings many labor-saving devices to the farm home; rural housing improves with balloon-frame construction
1844
Success of the telegraph revolutionizes communications
1845
Mail volume increases as postage rate is lowered
Farm Organizations & Movements
1840-60
Interest in agricultural societies revived
1850s
Farmers begin cooperative to make cheese and to market wool and tobacco
1850s
Farmers' clubs proliferate in Midwest
1852
United States Agricultural Society organized
Agricultural Education & Extension
1840
Agricultural journalism becomes permanently established, with about 30 farm journals and a total circulation of more than 100,000
1841
Union Agriculturist and Western Prairie Farmer start publication
1850
Jonathan Turner begins to campaign for industrial universities
1855
Michigan and Pennsylvania pass legislation providing for establishment of Michigan Agricultural College and the Farmers High School, later Pennsylvania State College
Government Programs & Policy
1849
The Patent Office is transferred from the State Department to the newly created Interior Department
1853
New York appoints first State entomologist
