 17th-18th Centuries
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17th century
Small land grants commonly made to individual settlers; large tracts
often granted to well-connected colonists
1607
First permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia
1619
First African slaves brought to Virginia; by 1700, slaves are displacing
southern indentured servants
18th century
English farmers settle in New England villages; Dutch, German, Swedish,
Scotch-Irish, and English farmers settle on isolated Middle Colony
farmsteads; English and some French farmers settle on plantations
in tidewater and on isolated Southern Colony Farmsteads in Piedmont;
Spanish immigrants, mostly lower middle-class and indentured servants,
settle the Southwest and California.
1776
Continental Congress offers land grants for service in the Continental
Army
1785, 1787
Ordinances of 1785 and 1787 provide for survey, sale, and government
of northwestern lands
1790
Total
population: 3,929,214; farmers 90% of labor force; U.S. area
settled extends westward on average of 255 miles; parts of the frontier
cross the Appalachians
1796
Public Land Act authorizes Federal land sales to the public in minimum
640-acre plots at $2 per acre of credit. |
1800
|
1800
Total Population: 5,308,483
1803
Louisiana Purchase
1810
Total
population: 7,239,881
1819
Florida and other land acquired through treaty with Spain |
1820
|
1820
Total population: 9,638,453;
Land Law allows as little as 80 acres of public land for a minimum
price of $1.25 an acre; credit system abolished
1830
Total population: 12,866,020; Mississippi
River forms the approximate frontier boundary
1830-37
Land speculation boom
1839
Anti-rent war in New York, a protest against the continued collection
of quitrents |
1840
|
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 |
1860
|
1860
Total population: 31,443,321;
farm population: 15,141,000 (est.); farmers 58% of labor force; Number
of farms: 2,044,000; average acres: 199
1862
Homestead Act grants 160 acres to settlers who have worked the land
5 years
1865-70
Sharecropping system in the South replaces the old slave plantation
system 1865-90 Influx of Scandinavian immigrants
1866-77
Cattle boom accelerates settlement of Great Plains; range wars develop
between farmers and ranchers
1870
Total
population: 38,558,371; farm population: 18,373,000 (est.); farmers
53% of labor force; Number of farms: 2,660,000; average acres: 153 |
1880
|
1880
Total population: 50,155,783;
farm population: 22,981,000 (est.); farmers 49% of labor force; Number
of farms: 4,009,000; average acres: 134; Most humid land already
settled; heavy agricultural settlement on the Great Plains begins
1880-1914
Most immigrants are from southern and eastern Europe
1887-97
Drought reduces settlement on the Great Plains
1890s
Increases in land under cultivation and number of immigrants becoming
farmers boost agricultural output
1890
Total
population: 62,941,714; farm population: 29,414,000 (est.); farmers
43% of labor force; Number of farms: 4,565,000; average acres: 136; Census shows that the frontier settlement is over
1891
President authorized to set aside public lands as forest reserves |
1900
|
1900
Total population: 75,994,266;
farm population: 29,414,000 (est.); farmers 38% of labor force; Number
of farms: 5,740,000; average acres: 147
1900-20
Continued agricultural settlement on the Great Plains
1902
Reclamation Act
1905-07
Policy of reserving timberlands inaugurated on a large scale
1905
Forest Service created |
1910
|
1910
Total population: 91,972,266;
farm population: 32,077,000 (est.); farmers 31% of labor force; Number
of farms: 6,366,000; average acres: 138
1909-20
Dryland farming boom on the Great Plains
1911-17
Immigration of agricultural workers from Mexico
1916
Stock Raising Homestead Act |
1920
|
1920
Total population: 105,710,620;
farm population: 31,614,269; farmers 27% of labor force; Number of
farms: 6,454,000; average acres: 148
1924
Immigration Act greatly reduces number of new immigrants |
1930
|
1930
Total population: 122,775,046;
farm population: 30,455,350; farmers 21% of labor force; Number of
farms: 6,295,000; average acres: 157; irrigated acres: 14,633,252
1932-36
Drought and dust-bowl conditions develop
1934
Executive orders withdraw public lands from settlement, location,
sale, or entry; Taylor Grazing Act |
1940
|
1940
Total population: 131,820,000;
farm population: 30,840,000; farmers 18% of labor force; Number of
farms: 6,102,000; average acres: 175; irrigated acres: 17,942,968
1940s
Many former southern sharecroppers migrate to war-related jobs in
cities |
1950
|
1950
Total population: 151,132,000;
farm population: 25,058,000; farmers 12.2% of labor force; Number
of farms: 5,388,000; average acres: 216; irrigated acres: 25,634,869
1956
Legislation provides for Great Plains Conservation Program |
1960
|
1960
Total population: 180,007,000;
farm population: 15,635,000; farmers 8.3% of labor force; Number of
farms: 3,711,000; average acres: 303; irrigated acres: 33,829,000
1960s
State legislation to keep land in farming increases
1964
Wilderness Act |
1970
|
1970
Total population: 204,335,000; farm population:
9,712,000; farmers 4.6% of labor force; Number of farms: 2.780, 000;
average acres: 390
1972
Clean Water Act |
1980
|
1980
Total population: 227,020,000;
farm population: 6,051,000; farmers 3.4% of labor force; Number of
farms: 2,439,510; average acres: 426; irrigated acres: 50,350,000
(1978)
1980s
For the first time since the 19th century, foreigners (Europeans and
Japanese primarily) begin to purchase significant acreages of farmland
and ranchland
1986
The Southeast's worst summer drought on record takes a severe toll
on many farmers
1987
Farmland values bottom out after a 6-year decline, signaling both
a turnaround in the farm economy and increased competition with other
countries' exports
1988
Scientists warn that global warming may affect the future viability
of American farming; one of the worst droughts in the Nation's history
hits Midwestern farmers |
1990-2000
|
1990
Total population: 261,423,000;
farm population: 2,987,552; farmers 2.6% of labor force; Number of
farms: 2,143,150; average acres: 461; irrigated acres: 49,404,000
(1992)
1991
Farm entrepreneurial population: 5,024,000
1998
Number
of farms: 2.19 million; average acres: 435
1990
Rural counties gain population after losing ground in the 1980s
2000
Total population: 275,000,000
(est.) |
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