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The economic history of the United States is about characteristics of and important developments in the economy of the U.S., from the colonial era to the present. The emphasis is on productivity and economic performance and how the economy was affected by new technologies, the change of size in economic sectors and the effects of legislation and government policy.
The U.S. ranks seventh in energy consumption per capita after Canada and a number of other countries. [349] [350] The majority of this energy is derived from fossil fuels: in 2005, it was estimated that 40% of the nation's energy came from petroleum, 23% from coal, and 23% from natural gas.
- October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023
- 340,332,281 (August 30, 2023)
- Pre-Colonial Era
- Colonial Farming: 1610–1775
- New Nation: 1776–1860
- Railroad Age: 1860–1910
- South, 1860–1940
- Grange--The Farmers Organize
- World War I
- 1920s
- 1930s
- Since 1945
Before the arrival of Europeans in North America, the continent supported a diverse range of indigenous cultures. While some populations were primarily hunter-gatherers, other populations relied on agriculture. Native Americans farmed domesticated crops in the Eastern Woodlands, the Great Plains, and the American Southwest.
Beginning in 1620, the first settlers in Plymouth Colony planted barley and peas from England but their most important crop was Indian corn (maize) which they were shown how to cultivate by the native Squanto. To fertilize this crop, they used small fish which they called herrings or shads. Beginning in 1619, Southern plantation agriculture, using ...
The U.S. economy was primarily agricultural in the early 19th century. Westward expansion, including the Louisiana Purchase and American victory in the War of 1812 plus the building of canals and the introduction of steamboats opened up new areas for agriculture. Most farming was designed to produce food for the family, and service small local mark...
A dramatic expansion in farming took place from 1860 to 1910 as cheap rail transportation opened the way for exports to Europe.The number of farms tripled from 2.0 million in 1860 to 6.0 million in 1906. The number of people living on farms grew from about 10 million in 1860 to 22 million in 1880 to 31 million in 1905. The value of farms soared fro...
Agriculture in the South was oriented toward large-scale plantations that produced cotton for export, as well as other export products such as tobacco and sugar. During the American Civil War, the Union blockade shut down 95 percent of the export business. Some cotton got out through blockade runners, and in conquered areas much was bought by north...
The Grangewas an organization founded in 1867 for farmers and their wives that was strongest in the Northeast, and which promoted the modernization not only of farming practices but also of family and community life. It is still in operation. Membership soared from 1873 (200,000) to 1875 (858,050) as many of the state and local granges adopted non-...
The U.S. in World War I, was a critical supplier to other Allied nations, as millions of European farmers were in the army. The rapid expansion of the farms coupled with the diffusion of trucks and Model T cars, and the tractor, allowed the agricultural market to expand to an unprecedented size. During World War I prices shot up and farmers borrowe...
A popular Tin Pan Alley song of 1919 asked, concerning the United States troops returning from World War I, "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?". As the song hints, many did not remain "down on the farm"; there was a great migration of youth from farms to nearby towns and smaller cities. The average distance moved wa...
New Deal farm and rural programs
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a liberal Democrat, was keenly interested in farm issues and believed that true prosperity would not return until farming was prosperous. Many different New Deal programs were directed at farmers.Farming reached its low point in 1932, but even then millions of unemployed people were returning to the family farm having given up hope for a job in the cities. The main New Deal strategy was to reduce the supply of commodities, thereby raising the prices a little t...
Rural relief
Many rural people lived in severe poverty, especially in the South. Major programs addressed to their needs included the Resettlement Administration (RA), the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), rural welfare projects sponsored by the WPA, NYA, Forest Service and CCC, including school lunches, building new schools, opening roads in remote areas, reforestation, and purchase of marginal lands to enlarge national forests. In 1933, the Administration launched the Tennessee Valley Authorit...
Economics and Labor
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, farm labor organized a number of strikes in various states. 1933 was a particularly active year with strikes including the California agricultural strikes of 1933, the 1933 Yakima Valley strike in Washington, and the 1933 Wisconsin milk strike. Agriculture was prosperous during World War II, even as rationing and price controls limited the availability of meat and other foods in order to guarantee its availability to the American And Allied armed for...
Government policies
The New Deal era farm programs were continued into the 1940s and 1950s, with the goal of supporting the prices received by farmers. Typical programs involved farm loans, commodity subsidies, and price supports. The rapid decline in the farm population led to a smaller voice in Congress. So the well-organized Farm Bureau and other lobbyists, worked in the 1970s to appeal to urban Congressman through food stamp programs for the poor. By 2000, the food stamp program was the largest component of...
Changing technology
Ammonia from plants built during World War II to make explosives became available for making fertilizers, leading to a permanent decline in real fertilizer prices and expanded use. The early 1950s was the peak period for tractor sales in the U.S. as the few remaining mules and work horses were sold for dog food. The horsepower of farm machinery underwent a large expansion.A successful cotton picking machine was introduced in 1949. The machine could do the work of 50 men picking by hand. The g...
Economics and labor
After 1945, a continued annual 2% increase in productivity (as opposed to 1% from 1835–1935): 97 led to further increases in farm size and corresponding reductions in the number of farms.: 99 Many farmers sold out and moved to nearby towns and cities. Others switched to part-time operation, supported by off-farm employment. The 1960s and 1970s saw major farm worker strikes including the 1965 Delano grape strike and the 1970 Salad Bowl strike. In 1975, the California Agricultural Labor Relatio...
People also ask
What is the economic history of the United States?
How did colony-wide per capita income change after a 17th-century boom?
How did economic growth affect the United States in the 19th century?
What was the economy like in the early 19th century?
Mar 23, 2015 · All of this checked the growth of colony-wide per capita income after a seventeenth-century boom. The American colonies led Great Britain in purchasing power per capita from 1700, and possibly from 1650, until 1774, even counting slaves in the population. That is, average purchasing power in America led Britain early, when Americans were British.
- Peter H. Lindert, Jeffrey G. Williamson
- 2015
(January) United States congressman Collin Peterson was one of 14 members of Congress who introduced a bill to delist wolves from Endangered Species Act protections in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming. It was known as H.R. 424. (February) The Mexican gray wolf population rebounded to hit an estimated 113 wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.
New England Economy 637 New England in the seventeenth century. Rossiter's estimates on the other hand vary much less, averaging a growth rate of 31.3 percent per decade, which is somewhat below the Malthusian rate. The differences between the two series imply a disagreement over the nature of the forces that determined the rate of growth of New
Feb 2, 2024 · In 1978, the FWS issued a rule reclassifying the gray wolf as threatened in Minnesota and endangered across the rest of the lower 48. In the decades following, the gray wolf’s story in the U.S. has been interspersed with legal battles over federal protections, as FWS has acted uniquely with wolves, stripping protections from them long before ...
