 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 |
|
