5.1 FARMS AND CITIES IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC 1750 - 1820 Listen to Podcast of these Slides 2. Modes of Production Hunting-gathering mode of production. Native American societies. Slave mode of production. Tobacco and cotton south. Subsistence mode of production. Each family owns its own means of production; family farm. Production is oriented toward use values; subsistence; barter economy. Each family reproduces its own labor force. 3. Production and Reproduction Production Land (natural resources), labor, and capital. Technology (tools; instruments of labor). Relations of production: cooperation or exploitation. Reproduction Biological: Reproduction of labor force. Daily Life: Food, clothing, shelter, energy. Socialization (community) Governance (state: democracy). 4. 18th Century United States: Dual Economies Coastal exporting (mercantile) economy Tobacco, rice, indigo, wheat, timber products. Oriented toward production. Inland subsistence-oriented economy Uplands of New England; Appalachians. Small towns; 25-30 miles from navigable rivers or urban centers. Oriented toward reproduction. Tensions: Capitalism (inequality) vs. democracy (equality). 5. Crevecoeur's Agrarian Ideal Crevecoeur: French lesser nobility; traveled in eastern N. America (1759-90). Letters from an American Farmer (1782). "What is an American: This new man?" Agrarian ideal: property + work ethic = upward mobility; success; prosperity. Politics: "silken bonds of mild government;" equitable laws. Soil nurtures the farmer; like a plant. 6. Jefferson's Agrarian Ideal Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787. Promotes agrarian ideal of independent farmer. "Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God." Agrarian ideal ignores reality of slavery. 7. Jefferson and Democracy Rule by ordinary people rather than elites. Political equality. Independent yeoman farmer owns "his" own labor and property. Economic equality. Manufacturing should stay in Europe (promotes economic inequality). Contradictions: Jefferson as promoter of agrarian democracy; as slave-owning Virginia planter (mercantile capitalism). 8. Jefferson as Planter 10,000 acres; 187 slaves in 1774; kind to slaves; good provider of food, housing, blankets Alleged to have had mulatto children by Sally Hemings; evidence inconclusive (Case made by Fawn Brodie T.J.: An Intimate History, 1974) 9. Jefferson as Agriculturalist Experiments with agricultural improvement. Tobacco depletes the soil; wheat improves it. 10. Production and Ecology Rapid soil exhaustion and deforestation in mercantile exporting sector of economy. Tobacco south monocultures; New England timber economy. Slower depletion of resources (soil and forests) in subsistence-oriented sector. Long-fallow (swidden system). 2-3 acres cultivated; then pasture; then reversion to woods; rotations; mixed crops. 11. Production: Subsistence Farming in New England Land: Private property; 40-80 acres. Pine/hardwoods. Clearing in woods. Wooden cabin. Use value economy: bartering with neighbors. Rail fences keep cattle out of crops. 12. Production:Labor for Clearing Land Stumps cut off at waist height. Saves scarce labor. Looks ugly, according to European travelers. Wood for potash: Sold for fertilizer and glassmaking. 13. Production: Oxen for animal muscle 1-2 oxen or horses on most subsistence farms. Oxen stronger, cheaper, live longer than horses; less likely to be injured or break a leg. Could be eaten; horses were not. 14. Production: Carey Plow Wrought iron plowshare: cuts soil at furrow. Curved iron moldboard: turns soil over. Colter: sharp wheel on front of plow beam cuts and breaks soil first. 15. Production: Harrow Wood or metal filled; spikes. Dragged over field after plowing to break up clods. Dragged again to cover seeds. 16. Reproduction of Daily Life: Farm Cabin for Shelter Reproduction of Daily Life: Shelter, food, clothing, energy. Logs cut and split. Cooperative house and barn raising. First cabin. Substantial house later. Gendered spaces. 17. Reproduction of Daily Life: Mixed Cropping for Food Potatoes; rye; pole beans; 3 field system. 2-3 acres (average) in cultivation; crop rotations. Mixed cropping has ecological advantages over monocultures. 18. Reproduction of Daily Life: Sheep for Woolen Clothing Part of Diamond's "major five." Wool essential for clothing. Mutton; lamb for food. 6-10 sheep (average) for subsistence. 19. Reproduction of Daily Life: Spinning Wool into Clothing Distaff holds the raw wool or flax. Wool is drawn from distaff and twisted into thread. Thread is wound around spindle. Spinning wheel, operated by hand or by walking, turns the spindle. 20. Reproduction of Daily Life: Mill for Energy Supply Waterwheel: renewable energy. Mill dam: creates millpond. Mill pond: holds water for millrace. Millrace: channels water to mill wheel. Millers: usually well-to-do farmers. Food, Cloth, planks. 21. Link to Market Economy: Country Store Link to outside markets. Storekeeper well-off. Account books for bartering goods. Local production of barrels, brooms, shoes, corn, grain, threshers. Imported guns, coffee, china, kettles, shovels. 22. Presettlement Forest, 1700 Coniferous: white pine, hemlock. Deciduous: red and white oak; white ash, red maple, American chestnut, hickory. 23. Subsistence to Market Farming Petersham, Mass. (now Harvard Forest). Subsistence Farming, 1740. Intensive market farming, 1830. 24. Forests Cleared Height of farming and forest harvest, 1840 (market revolution in New England). Farms abandoned to forest, 1850 (settlement and market move westward). 25. Portable Sawmills Railroads and portable sawmills extend lumbering industry inland. 26. Market Farming Benjamin Rush, "German Farmers of Pennsylvania," 1789 (Penn. Dutch). Crops grown for Philadelphia market; transported by Lancaster Turnpike. Influence of German agricultural improvement movement. Large heated barns; high fences; large wagons, 4 horses; wheat, vegetables. 27. Market Farming Agricultural improvement: fertilizers; manure and legumes to restore nitrogen; fish and guano for phosphorus; potash for potassium; lime, marl, and gypsum for calcium. Intensive agriculture: deep plowing; horses; account books; numbered fields; records; management; county fairs. Profit motive; harder work; hired hands. 28. Questions for Discussion What tensions exist between democracy and capitalism? What is "human nature"? Is it formed by nature (genetics) or culture (societal conditions)? What is environmental determinism and what problems are raised by it?