John Deere Influence On American Farming

Corn was a very profitable farm because of its great demand in European industrial countries. Due to the great demand for these goods, maintaining the process of planting, cultivating, and harvesting them became a significant burden for farmers and slaves laboring on a plantation or farm. As a laborer under such circumstances, Henry Blair came up with an invention that “ …increased farming efficiency by reducing the labor and time needed for production; his inventions also helped improve the livelihood of other farmers” (“Black History Month…”). Blair developed a machine that would drop seeds as it went and then cover them with soil, using a rake, in order to assist with the difficult work of planting corn in such big quantities. This especially facilitated planting, but over time it diminished the satisfaction of the agricultural employees' duties.

In the Northeast innovations such as: textile machines broke out as a result of Samuel Slater’s English plans, the cotton gin and concept of interchangeable parts both created by Eli Whitney, as well as the sewing machine created by Elias Howe then perfected by Isaac Singer all stimulated other innovations making industrialization and manufacturing much simpler. Innovations to make tasks easier were also present in the West including one of the most important, the McCormick reaper which increased the amount of food produced in both the domestic and foreign markets. Although all of these smaller innovations were important to developing the economy, it was the transportation that really set America apart. For example, the Northeast’s economy was greatly furthered by the Erie Canal which linked the Hudson River with the Great Lakes. This effected the value of land along the route as well as industry within the state increased dramatically.

The mechanical reaper was a once-in-a-generation type of invention that changed the way farmers harvested their crops this invention made it easier for farmers to do their job. Which increased crop supplies to feed their families. The mechanical reaper was a sleigh-type of machine that hooked up to a horse with a blade invented by a farmer, Cyrus McCormick this amazing invention. Cyrus McCormick didn't need to be good at marketing or salesmanship, because he was such but Cyrus was very good at both that's why the mechanical reaper had so much success. And after this innovation, the farming industry only got easier and easier for farmers due to new inventions that improved upon the base mechanical reaper.

Before the 19th century, farming was done by hand and by using small tools. The Market and Industrial Revolutions brought about lots of new inventions that benefitted agriculture. Very few people changed American agriculture more than Cyrus McCormick did in the 1800’s. His invention, the McCormick mechanical reaper, revolutionized farming by putting together many parts involved in harvesting crops into one machine. The mechanical reaper was a revolutionary farming tool that saved effort and time for farmers by allowing them to more efficiently harvest and cut

Moi Banerjee 1/7/14 CP: 1 APUSH DBQ Technology, government policy and economic conditions changed the American agriculture drastically in the period 1865-1900. Technology increased hugely over the years but the prices were outrageous to the agriculture society. Because farmers could not afford anything, they lived in poor conditions. Although the farmers were the “front-face” of the society and provided everything for the country, people were forgetting about the, and they were not being represented enough in the government and its policy.

Cyrus Hall Mcormick changed the grain harvesting world when he perfected his invention of the reaping machine. Cyrus Mcormick invented the mechanical reaper in 1831 but continued to perfect it up until 1834 when he got a paten on the machine. The first mechanical reaper was pulled by horses so his invention was a huge step forward. Mcormick’s reaper allowed farmers to harvest up to 10 acres a day, which is a huge upgrade compared to before when farmers could only harvest only two-three acres a day.

In the 1800s, it was hard to farm because of all the livestock free roaming, and eating the farmers crops. Also, all of the ranchers just let their cattle roam, and graze where they pleased. Joseph Glidden, a farmer in Dekalb, Illinois invented the barbed wire, when his wife started to get annoyed because the cows would get into

The metal plow was brought by the Spanish along with the cattle. The Europeans were able to increase the scale of their agricultural operations thanks to this device, attached to livestock. More agricultural land produced more food, which in turn expanded population and extended life expectancy. Additionally, cattle provide a consistent source of protein in the form of meat and dairy goods. Europeans were able to travel farther into the interior of the continents thanks to the horse.

A steel plow would help the farmer plant and clear field faster than doing it all by hand. This steel plow would help clear and plant seed faster. Smallpox was an epidemic that thrived in Great Britain during the middle ages. This disease killed killed 90% of the people who got the disease in Massachusetts in the 1617. To lower the chances from colonist from

Thesis: From the time period of 400-1000 CE, the Byzantine Empire and Western Rome had many continuities and changes in their agricultural production, such as feudalism, the heavy plows (change), peasant labor (continuity), and lords and vassals relying on agricultural production (change). After the fall of the Roman Empire, advancements such as the heavy plow emerged, increasing efficiency in agricultural production between 400-1000 CE. The usage of the heavy plow in Western Rome eventually replaced the light Mediterranean plows used before the fall of the Roman Empire. The development of the heavy plow during the Middle Ages enabled farmers to add more steps in their farming which ultimately increased agricultural production. Iron plows

In the Great Depression it was known for relieving debts of farmers and giving them money to keep their farms going. John Deere had a huge impact on the time of the WestWard Expansion. The invention of the steel plow came with almost no draw backs with it. It was an amazing invention which was the spark of an agricultural boom in America. It allowed for easier plowing of ground.

The ways of harvesting crops would change drastically. In some ways it was a wonderful thing, but in other unforeseen ways it was awful. In the Midwest, the farmers were harvesting wheat. They used a sickle that was hard on the body, and was very time consuming.

Farm technology made a lot of progress from 1890-1920. Before this time, all the farming was done by hand. There were many inventions from wire to tractors to help make farming easier. Three inventions that really changed farming were gas tractors, cream separator and horse drawn combine. Gas tractors were created so that you didn’t have to use your horses so much and so you could pull more.

The first lawn mower was a push mower with no engine and insufficient blades,

The plow horse was a horse that had on horseshoes, a horse collar, and was selectively bred. The horseshoe let the horse work hard without the hooves cracking, while the horse collar acted as a barrier to make the horse pull the heavy load from their chest instead of straining their neck. The horses being selectively bred allowed the peasants to gain two more hours in the work day because the horses were stronger and faster. Overall, the innovations allowed the peasants to have an easier time going through the agriculture process. There were many economic and social changes that occurred in the Late Middle Ages.