page_title: Economic history of the United States
section_title: Agriculture
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of the United States / Middle 19th century / Commerce, industry and agriculture / Agriculture
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Illustration einer pferdegezogenen Getreidemähmaschine (Hersteller: Adriance Co.; Richardson, N.Y.) – Originalbeschreibung: „Adriance-Getreidemäher“ English: Illustration of a horse-drawn self-rake reaper (manufacturer: Adriance Co.; Richardson, N.Y.)
context_page_description: The economic history of the United States is about characteristics of and important developments in the U.S. economy from colonial times to the present. The emphasis is on economic performance and how it was affected by new technologies, especially those that improved productivity, the main cause of economic growth. Also covered are the change of size in economic sectors and the effects of legislation and government policy. Specialized business history is covered in American business history.
context_section_description: In the antebellum period the U.S. supplied 80% of Britain's cotton imports. Just before the Civil War the value of cotton was 61% of all goods exported from the U.S.
  The westward expansion into the highly productive heartland was aided by the new railroads, and both population and grain production in the West expanded dramatically. Increased grain production was able to capitalize on high grain prices caused by poor harvests in Europe during the time of the Great Famine in Ireland Grain prices also rose during the Crimean War, but when the war ended U.S. exports to Europe fell dramatically, depressing grain prices. Low grain prices were a cause of the Panic of 1857. Cotton and tobacco prices recovered after the panic.
  Agriculture was the largest single industry and it prospered during the war. Prices were high, pulled up by a strong demand from the army and from Britain, which depended on American wheat for a fourth of its food imports.
  John Deere developed a cast steel plow in 1837 which was lightweight and had a moldboard that efficiently turned over and shed the plowed earth. It was easy for a horse to pull and was well suited to cutting the thick prairie sod of the Midwest. He and his brother Charles founded Deere and Company which continues into the 21st century as the largest maker of tractors, combines, harvesters and other farm implements.
  Threshing machines, which were a novelty at the end of the 18th century, began being widely introduced in the 1830s and 1840s. Mechanized threshing required less than half the labor of hand threshing.
  The Civil War acted as a catalyst that encouraged the rapid adoption of horse-drawn machinery and other implements. The rapid spread of recent inventions such as the reaper and mower made the workforce efficient, even as hundreds of thousands of farmers were in the army. Many wives took their place, and often consulted by mail on what to do; increasingly they relied on community and extended kin for advice and help.
  The 1862 Homestead Act opened up the public domain lands for free. Land grants to the railroads meant they could sell tracts for family farms (80 to 200 acres) at low prices with extended credit. In addition the government sponsored fresh information, scientific methods and the latest techniques through the newly established Department of Agriculture and the Morrill Land Grant College Act.
caption: Adriance reaper, late 19th century
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