Emergent Market Agriculture in the US

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Emergent Market Agriculture in the US

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Title: Emergent Market Agriculture in the US

1
Emergent Market Agriculture in the US

Eco-Ag Program
October 10, 2003
Chad Kruger

I. Introduction

Important questions to think about as we discuss
the emergence of market agriculture in the US?
Why is the US agricultural system so different
than agriculture in other parts of the world,
such as Europe?
Why did / does Euro American land use differ so
greatly from Native American land use?
Why are farmers and rural people so marginalized
and disconnected from each other and the rest of
society?
What precipitated the rapid expansion and
development of agriculture in the US?

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
i. The Village
a. structure

Role of the Village
Organic Community Danbom
living forming an integral element of a whole
having systematic coordination of parts
Self-sufficient, subsistence community
Society center religion, education, welfare,
economy
Political decision making structure

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
i. The Village
a. structure
b. tenure

Village Tenure
feudalism, landlords, manors, serfdom
common property management, community crop
planning (diversity for subsistence)
private property, limited specialization
enclosure

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
i. The Village
ii. Paradigm Shifts

What caused the changes in Europe that lead to
the colonization of the Americas?
Power shifts Magna Carta, The Black Plague,
Reformation
Opening of European culture Crusades, Marco
Polo, Columbus
The New World

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
a. Mobility

The Native American Village
Defined by its mobility
Settlement of a few hundred people - primarily
extended families, not a fixed size
Seasonality and availability of food sources
Dwellings and possessions had to be readily moved
(or left)

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
a. Mobility
b. land tenure

Native American Land Tenure
Native Americans had various forms of land tenure
from private property to multiple-village
(Tribal) communal lands. As with any other
society, increasing population densities force
changes in tenurial systems.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
ii. Agriculture

Native American Agriculture
William Cronon claims that the crucial
distinction between Indian communities was
whether or not they had adopted agriculture.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
ii. Agriculture
a. New England

Native American Agriculture
For New England Native Americans, the Kennebec
River seemed to be the dividing line between
cultivators and more traditional
hunter-gatherer villages.
North of the Kennebec River, Villages moved more
frequently based on the seasonally available
diet.
South of the Kennebec River, villages moved less
frequently.
Hunger in the winter it was not uncommon for
Natives to go long stretches of the winter
without food seemed to have a physical
resistance to it.
Population densities 41/100 sq miles in North
to 287/100 sq miles in South

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
ii. Agriculture
a. New England
b. Footprint

Native American Footprint
How lightly did Native Americans live in their
environment?

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
ii. Agriculture
a. New England
b. Footprint

Native American Footprint
Wildlife management practices such as burning
forests not only concentrates wildlife for
hunting, but actually promotes wildlife
populations.
Menominee forestry in Wisconsin - we know that
the Menominee tribe had been actively managing
their forest for at least 500 years before the
first white settlers in Wisconsin for multiple
benefits, such as timber, wildlife, agriculture
and medicinal plants.
Whidbey Island assisted propagation of camas by
burning prairies, garden beds, etc.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
i. The Village
ii. Agriculture
a. New England
b. Footprint

Native American Footprint
Is there a common determinant of land use among
all human societies?
Population density?
Climate?

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
i. Reasons for coming to America

Reasons for coming to the Americas
Commercial exploitation
Virginia Company, a stockholder company designed
to return profit to its shareholders as well as
to establish a colony in the Americas
Religious and political freedom
Plymouth Colony 1620 (Pilgrims)
Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629-30) Puritans
Pennsylvania refuge founded by William Penn for
Quakers
Maryland founded by the Calverts for Catholics
Petty Crime (Debt)
Option for debtors rather than death or
incarceration

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
i. Reasons for coming to America
ii. Patterns of settlement

Patterns of Settlement
Colonies, charters, land grants
- Companies are provided large land grants in
exchange for establishing a colony and exporting
resources back to England
North vs. South
Northern settlements tended to be dominated by
religious communities that were able to
recreate English society
Southern settlements tended to be more spread out
importance of commercial cultivation of tobacco
tobacco would wear out the soil after a couple
of years, so farmers had to continue moving their
cultivated fields for tobacco English bounty on
tobacco ensured that it would be cultivated.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
i. Reasons for coming to America
ii. Patterns of settlement

Patterns of Settlement
Subsistence vs. commodities
Everyone had to be concerned about subsistence
first. Trade agreements and bounties between
England and the southern colonies encouraged them
to invest more in commodity production (tobacco
and indigo)
Depressed commodity prices encouraged southern
planters to capitalize on indentured servitude
and African slavery as cheap labor to increase
the plantation size of commodity production. This
had a long-term impact of increase landholding.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
i. Reasons for coming to America
ii. Patterns of settlement

Patterns of Settlement
Tenurial relationships
The question of enclosure. Northern communities
quickly ran into the same questions of common
property as they had dealt with in England. The
answer to many of those problems was to enclose
property with fencing essentially exerting
their private property rights
The question of inheritance. Northern and
Southern farmers also had to quickly deal with
the issue of inheritance. Southern farmers
practiced primogeniture --- passing lands to the
oldest son. Other sons either found other
occupations, became tenants or moved west.
Northern farmers tended to reform land by
splitting it for heirs, or picking up stakes and
moving to new lands. Children also tended to be
much older before taking over family operations.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
i. Reasons for coming to America
ii. Patterns of settlement
iii. Colonial Influence

Colonial Influence
Taxes and bounties
Markets and trade
Specialization in commodity production
Indentured Servitude
Slavery

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries

The American Revolution was a revolution of
moderate ends
The goals were political and social liberation,
not egalitarian democracy

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes

Why we drink coffee instead of tea?
Boston Tea Party The Sons of Liberty dumped 342
crates of tea into the Boston Harbor in protest
of English tea tax.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia

The minute man militia
Farmers were the militia of the colonies. The
romantic idea of the American aristocracy as the
soldiers of the Revolutionary War is misleading
they did have roles, such as George Washington,
and they did risk life and property but farmers
were the ones who gave the most. Many of the
regulars in the Continental Army were sons of
farmers who would not be inheriting land.
How is this different than the military
garrisons of previous wars?

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation

Reduced Isolation and the building of a new
politics
Because villages were not the center of most
agricultural settlement in the colonies, people
had become very isolated before the war. The
opportunity for soldiers to meet people from
other places helped share ideas and reduce
insular thinking.
The excitement over building a new political
apparatus fueled the reduction of isolation
the Shays Rebellion was in fact a rebellion
against a perceived re-establishment of tyranny.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism

Republicanism vs. Federalism
Jefferson vs. Madison Hamilton
Rural and agricultural interests (civics) vs.
Commercial and industrial interests

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues

The Constitution
What were the main issues related to agriculture?
Uniformity in economics/trade
Currency
Rural/agricultural vs. urban/commercial interests

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues
ii. Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion
Strange that the ungrateful multitude should
turn upon the illustrious patriots, who led them
to seek such happiness John Mallet, a British
observer.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues
ii. Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion
Demand for specie (currency) to pay debt, created
a chain of debt from English traders, American
wholesalers and merchants, farmers
Compounded by increasing tax burden

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues
ii. Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion
1782, Samuel Ely led an armed attack on Hampshire
County Courthouse beginning of Massachusetts
Regulators
Attempted to promote paper money and tender
legislation
Government opted for forceful resistance.
Anti-Shaysite legislation, suspension of habeas
corpus. Establishment of Lincolns state army.
Escalated Shaysite objectives

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues
ii. Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion - Violence
Battle over federal arsenal at Springfield on
January 25 Lincoln victory Shaysites plan to
overthrow MA government - -needed stores from
Springfield
February 4th, Lincolns army attacks and scatters
Shaysites at Petersham. 2000 Shaysites fled to
Vermont.
Shaysite raids continued against merchants and
government supporters through June 1787.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues
ii. Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion - Resolution
June new elections half of MA government
replaced, but continued Anti-Shay legislation.
Surrounding states supported MA government -
-anti-Shaysite.
No British support for Shaysites.
Migration and resettlement in the west.
Economic recovery exports outweighed imports in
1787.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
i. Agricultural issues
ii. Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion
Implications for Constitution
Shaysites (anti-federalist) opposed the adoption
of a federal constitution
for throwing the whole power of the federal
government into the hands of those who are in the
mercantile interest and for the landed, which is
the greatest interest of this country, to lie
unrepresented, forlorn, and without hope. -
Cornelius

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development

What precipitated agricultural development and
expansion in the US?

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion

Government promotion of agricultural development
Promotion of trade debtor nation
agricultural products were the only positive
balance of trade product from the young nation
Purchase of land
The Louisiana Purchase, California, annexing
Texas, purchase of Florida, etc.
Promotion of settlement Basic Land Ordinance of
1785
This is the Township, Range and Section Ordinance
that created a systematic method for allocating
land for settlement.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion

Expansion into new lands
speculation and the development of a land market
Danbom makes the statement that good or bad,
speculators were inevitable. . . Why is this the
case?
Functional land markets require information
sharing speculators (realtors, etc.) are part
of that information sharing apparatus.
The Indian Question
Westward expansion of Europeans and the
European world view necessitated the removal or
at least the assimilation of Native American
Populations.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion

Expansion into new lands
Frontier life
Subsistence first . . . market second the
desire for ownership of land was a driving factor
in westward expansion cant be disassociated
with the desire to market agricultural products
Transportation/Markets
Rivers and canals were the routes, greatly
improved by the Louisiana Purchase (New Orleans)
and the removal of hostile Native Americans
Flatboats were replaced by the Steam Boat which
could travel upriver as well as downriver

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion

Expansion into new lands
Changing structure and character of rural
communities
The introduction of US currency after the
Constitution, enabled formal markets for credit
and commodity trade. What does currency do to a
society?
Establishment of Commodity Centers
Manufacturing in Pennsylvania and the Northeast
New York City became the capital
Cincinnati became the pork capital
St. Louis became the Gateway to the West
Kansas City became the destination for cattle
drives
Chicago would ultimately become the beef
slaughter capital

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion

Expansion into new lands
Shift from Rural to Urban
In spite of the availability of land, and the
number of people settling in the west, the shift
to an urban population began in earnest.
Manufacturing job opportunities, limited
agricultural opportunities in the Northeast,
civic opportunities encouraged people to leave
the farm and move to the cities.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation

Technological Innovations
Cotton Gin Eli Whitney 1793
1793, 180,000 pounds of cotton/year
1810, 93,000,000 pounds of cotton/year
One person could clean 1 pound of cotton/day,
with Whitneys cotton Gin, one person could clean
50 pounds of cotton/day
Cotton Gin made cotton a profitable commodity
land and labor westward expansion and slavery

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38

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation

Technological Innovations
McCormicks Reaper 1834
One person could cut between one and three acres
of grain/day, the reaper enabled them to cut
between 12 and 15 acres/day

39
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40

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation

Technological Innovations
Steamboat
Fultons Clermont 1807 150 mile trip from NYC
to Albany

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Rural Institutions
Nuclear Family
Family farm not village based ag like Europe,
tenurial relationships
Family as the central institution of society
Neighbors
Dependence on neighbors, many of them related
Barn Raising
Church
Moral center of community
Social center of community (weddings, potlucks,
celebrations)

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Rural Institutions
Shools
Farmers tended to come together to finance
schools, set curriculum, schedules
Ethnicity
Considerably influential in settlement patterns
Norwegians in Minnesota, Germans in Wisconsin,
etc.
Slavery
South of the Mason-Dixon line
Addition of new states to the union

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

What impacts did the Civil War have on
agriculture in the US?

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Impacts of the Civil War
Forced Structural Change (labor loss, production
needs)
Sons and fathers left to join the army
Women took over farm operations and labor
Slave labor became more difficult to manage
Technology change, particularly in the North
enabled more people to leave for the army
Increased need for production to feed the
armies, to export for currency

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Impacts of the Civil War
Transportation improvements
Railroads!! Railroads, bridges, etc. built to
support the war effort

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Impacts of the Civil War
Diminishing markets for Southern Commodities
European countries already looking elsewhere for
tobacco and cotton reaction to slavery ---
England and France had already outlawed slavery
and were trying to reduce their dependence on
southern cotton/tobacco
Inconsistent cotton supply to England/France
compelled those countries to look to Africa and
India for supplies

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Impacts of the Civil War
Union Military victories
Vicksburg and New Orleans Union controlled the
Mississippi enabled products from the west to
reach the North
Union blockade of the South disrupted southern
trade with Europe
Devastating marches through the South Sherman
Atlanta, Sherridan Shenendoah Valley, Wilson
Alabama not only the military campaigns, but
the looters that followed. Plantations,
factories, crops, infrastructure destoryed

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Slavery
Slavery was already in jeopardy . . . European
terms of trade
Emancipation Proclamation galvanizing the North
behind Lincoln, solidifying shaky war support

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Changing Perspectives
Reconstruction and agricultural change in the
South
What to do after slavery?
Sharecropping
Rebuilding infrastructure
Westward Expansion
What to do with veterans?
Focus on recovery and expansion as a means of
putting the war behind
Institutional formation
Establishment of the primary agricultural laws
and institutions that we have today.

I. Introduction
II. Coming to America
A. European Agriculture
B. Native American Land Use
C. Settlement and Colonization
III. Moderate Revolutionaries
A. Tea and Taxes
B. Militia
C. Reduced Isolation
D. Republicanism vs. Federalism
E. The Constitution
IV. Agricultural Development
A. Government promotion
B. Expansion
C. Technological Innovation
D. Rural Institutions

Conclusion
Colonialization, settlement and expansion of
agriculture in the US have largely been impacted
by a set of social, political, and economic
ideologies and institutions
Rural/agrarian vs. urban/commercial interests
Government promotion of expansion
Rural institutions
Technological change

Study Questions
Explain whether you think it is possible to
deduce that there are common (universal)
determinants of land use among all human
societies and what some determinants might be.
Throughout modern history there have been
indications of an urban-rural bias, such as the
issues that gave rise to organized
action/violence in the Shays Rebellion. Do you
agree that urban-rural bias is a legitimate
problem? Why do you think that there has been
limited organized action by farmers/rural
citizens in the US since the Shays Rebellion?
In the book Elements of Confederate Defeat, five
Civil War historians argue that while the
Confederate states lost the military campaign and
the institution of slavery, they in fact achieved
more of their war aims (ie. reasons for going
to war) than did the Union states. Is this a fair
assessment in relation to agriculture?