Question

How did the Great Plains across the Mississippi river become a major wheat-producing area of America?

Answer 1

1)      Agricultural revolution first took place in England. Over the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the English country side changed dramatically. Before this time in large parts of England the country side was open. It was not partitioned into enclosed lands privately owned by landlords. Peasants cultivated on strips of land around the village they lived in. beyond these strips of cultivation lay the common land. All villagers had access to the commons. Here, they pastured their cows and grazed their sheep, collected fuel wood for fire and berries and fruits for food. 2)      This economy of open fields and common lands changed drastically over time. In 16th century, rich farmers divided and enclosed them in order to make available good feed for their sheep. They also built hedges around their holdings to separate their property from that of others. They drove out villagers who had small cottages on the commons, and they prevented the poor from entering the enclosed fields. 3)      The enclosure Movement proceeded slowly till the middle of the 18th century. After the mid-18th century, it swept through the country side, changing the English landscape forever. More and more lands began to be enclosed. 4)      The 16th century enclosures promoted sheep farming whereas the enclosures occurred in the late 18thcentury was for grain production. From the mid 18th century, the English population expanded rapidly. This meant an increased demand for food grains to feed the population. 5)      By the end of the 18th century, France was at war with England. This disrupted trade and the import of food grains from Europe. Prices of food grains in England rose high, encouraging landowners to enclose lands for grain production. 6)      Landlords got benefitted by enclosures but the poor became helpless because they depended on the commons for their survival. Now they could no longer collect their firewood from the forests or graze their cattle on the commons. Everything belonged to the landlords; everything had a price which the poor could not afford to pay. 7)      In places where enclosures happened on an extensive scale, the poor were displaced from the land. They found their customary rights gradually disappearing. They went to cities to find jobs. 8)      The introduction of threshing machines also created problems for the poor. The Captain Swing riots spread in the country side to discourage their use. 9)      Thus, the coming of modern agriculture in England meant many different changes. On one hand, the richer farmers made 6 profits by expanding grain productions. On the other hand, the poor farmers faced hardships due to disappearance of open fields. 10)  So far the USA is concerned, modern agriculture developed there by the early twentieth century.