quest of the soil, developing from a state of primitive 

 self-sufficiency to a capitalistic and highly complex 

 agricultural organization. 



REASONS FOR THE STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC HISTORY 

 OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



These preliminary considerations show the broad 

 scope of the economic history of American agricul- 

 ture as a field for study. What, then, are some of 

 the more important reasons for directing attention to 

 this field? 



1. Agriculture is the fundamental basis of our pros- 

 perity. The greater portion of our population has 

 always dwelt in rural communities. According to the 

 census, the rural population in 1790 represented 

 ninety-six and seven-tenths per cent, of the total; in 

 1880, seventy and five-tenths per cent.; and in 1910, 

 fifty-three and seven-tenths per cent. ; thus it still 

 constitutes more than half of the whole population. 

 In 1910, thirty-four and six-tenths per cent, of the 

 population was engaged directly in the cultivation of 

 the soil, a greater proportion than is engaged in any 

 other occupation. The value of farm property as 

 compared with that of manufacturing, transportation, 

 forestry, and mining industries also emphasizes the 

 great prominence of agriculture; and finally, the 

 study of cycles in business prosperity indicates that 

 our general well-being has always been dependent on 

 this industry. 



2. The economic history of American agriculture is 

 indispensable to a correct understanding of much of 

 our political and diplomatic history. A considera- 

 tion of the effect of cotton and slavery on the whole 

 history of party politics from the adoption of the con- 

 stitution down to the civil war, or of the rapid growth 

 of the wheat industry in its relation to the organiza- 

 tion of a farmers' party and the effect of this party 

 movement on national legislation, as evidenced, for 

 instance, by the interstate commerce act of 1887 and 

 the Sherman anti-trust act of 1890, will give anyone 



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