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The history of agriculture in the United States covers the period from the first English settlers to the present day. In Colonial America, agriculture was the primary livelihood for 90% of the population, and most towns were shipping points for the export of agricultural products. Most farms were geared toward subsistence production for family use.
While farming in the southern colonies took place for most of the year, northern growing seasons were more restricted, limiting the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables. However, the coastal colonists' proximity to the ocean gave them a bounty of fresh fish to supplement their diet year-round, especially in the north.
The economy has shifted, first from agriculture to industry in cities and more recently to a service economy with a large suburban base. Farming was the primary occupation of 72% of the national labor force in 1820, 60% in 1860, 37% in 1900, and 26% in 1920. The 50% level came in 1877. [8] [9]
Thus, by mid-century, most colonial farming was a commercial venture, although subsistence agriculture continued to exist in New England and the middle colonies. Some immigrants who just arrived purchased farms and shared in this export wealth, but many poor German and Irish immigrants were forced to work as agricultural wage laborers.
Global trade in the Chesapeake and southern colonies was mainly centered on the products of their agriculture. Cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo were the areas main exports. The deerskin trade was also a major factor in the economic growth of Charleston, South Carolina , which exported an average of 54,000 deer skins per year between ...
Agriculture was the largest single industry and it prospered during the war. [119]: 1–23 [139] [121] Prices were high, pulled up by a strong demand from the army and from Britain (which depended on American wheat for a fourth of its food imports). The war acted as a catalyst that encouraged the rapid adoption of horse-drawn machinery and ...
In the period following Oliver Cromwell's fall in England, the colony grew and transitioned to a slave economy. It saw the beginnings of industry and urbanization. At the turn of the eighteenth century, King William's War (1689–1697) and Queen Anne's War (1702–1714) brought Maryland into depression again as European demand for tobacco decreased sharply.
Plantations in southern New England also included farming of beans, squash, and pumpkins, which were planted with the corn. Additionally, though the tobacco industry thrived to a much greater extent in Southern colonies, tobacco was also grown to a relatively lesser extent in New England. Other crops included melons and strawberries. [4]