A Condensed History of American Agriculture 1776–1999

1776–99 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890
1785 1802 1810 1820 1834 1840’s 1850’s 1862 1874 1887 1890
The Philadelphia Society George Washington First American agricul- Agriculture Committee, McCormick reaper The growing use of fac- Commercial corn and U.S. Department of Availability of barbed Hatch Experiment Second Morrill Act broad-
for the Promotion of Parke Custis instituted tural periodical, the U.S. House of patented tory-made agricultural wheat belts began to Agriculture established wire allowed fencing of Station Act set up ened land -grant program
Agriculture and other agricultural fair in Agricultural Museum, Representatives, machinery increased develop rangeland, ending era Federal-State coopera- and set up funding for
agricultural groups Arlington, VA began publication established farmer’s need for cash 1862 of unrestricted, open- tion in agricultural black land-grant schools
organized and encouraged com- The drive for agricultur- range grazing research
1825 mercial farming al education culminated 1890
1793 Agriculture Committee, in the passage of the Census showed that the
Invention of cotton gin U.S. Senate, Morrill Land Grant frontier settlement era
established College Act was over

1862 1890
Homestead Act gave First Federal Meat
free public land to per- Inspection Act
sons willing to farm it

D A D1896
E
US ECT
1865-70 Rural Free Delivery
The sharecropping sys- (RFD) started
tem in the South
replaced the old slave
S P
plantation system
IN
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990–99
1900-1910 1914 1922 1932-36 1945-70 1954 1964 1970 1980’s 1990 1997
George Washington Smith-Lever Extension Capper-Volstead Act Drought and dust-bowl Revolution in agricultur- Agricultural Trade Food Stamp Act and Environmental Quality Biotechnology became Food, Agriculture, USDA issues Civil Rights
Carver, director of agri- Act passed setting up a gave cooperatives legal conditions developed al technology brought Development and War on Poverty Improvement Act a viable technique for Conservation, and Action Team report, offer-
cultural research at national extension standing greatly increased yields Assistance Act (P.L. improving crop and Trade Act and Omnibus ing 92 recommendations
Tuskegee Institute, service 1933 and more specialized, 480) facilitated agricul- livestock products Budget Reconciliation for overcoming past
pioneered in finding new Agricultural Adjustment capital-intensive farms tural exports and Act increased farmers’ injustices
uses for peanuts, sweet Act (AAA) initiated crop foreign aid 1985 flexibility in planting
potatoes, and soybeans, and marketing controls 1946 Food Security Act low- under government 1998
thus helping to diversify National School Lunch 1954-55 ered government farm programs HACCP is implemented
southern agriculture. 1936 Act Rural development supports, promoted to target and reduce the
Soil Conservation and program begins exports, and set up the 1993 presence of pathogens
1902 Domestic Allotment Act 1947 Conservation Reserve Revised General in meat and poultry
Reclamation Act linked farm programs General Agreement on 1956 Program Agreement on Tariffs
facilitated irrigation with conservation Tariffs and Trade Soil Bank Program and Trade (GATT) and 1999
(GATT) established authorized new North American Drop in many commodi-
1906 1936 working procedures Free Trade Agreement ties prices, combined with
Food and Drug Act, a Rural Electrification Act that substantially (NAFTA) lowered trade disastrous weather in
landmark in food safety (REA) greatly improved reduced tariffs between barriers many parts of the country,
quality of rural life member nations caused increased
1908 1996 demand for USDA farm
President Roosevelt’s Federal Agriculture programs
Country Life Improvement and
Commission was estab- Reform Act revised 1999
lished and focused farm programs to The "Roadless Initiative"
attention on rural increase reliance on is implemented to pre-
problems market signals serve roadless tracts in
National Forests, secur-
ing fish and wildlife habi-
tat and protecting natural
resources