American Farmers in the West essays

American Farmers in the West essays In Americas history, farmers have always played an important role. In the later part of the 19th century, farmers moved to the west. The farmers of the West were economically vulnerable due to factors beyond their control. Environmental conditions greatly affected the farmers economy. The lack of government protection of farmers put the farmers in a difficult economic position. The mortgage companies, which controlled the farmers land, caused the farmers to go further into debt. Mother Natures wrath severely harmed the farmers. First, floods caused the erosion of the land and destroyed the scarce fertile topsoil. Farmers, who were suffering from a loss due to the weather damaging the crops, now had to buy overly expensive fertilizer to repair the land before next seasons crops had to be planted. Second, droughts plagued the trans-Mississippi west. Due to the lack of production due to the lack of water like Powell had warned people, farmers left the farms. One poet describes the conditions of the drought as fifty miles to water. New farming methods called dry-farming had to be used to make use of the land that got little water. The new farming methods ultimately made to soil useless and created the Dust-Bowl. Last, extreme heat caused farmers to abandon their farms. The heat led to a poor production of crops and crops not suited to be sold. Because of the hot temperatures, fires could occur in the dry wheat and rye fields and on the sods twig-thatc hed and sun-baked houses. The dangers of fire, dehydration, and flooding mixed with the insufficient production of crops caused the farmers to leave their farms or stay and live off of virtually a nonproductive piece of property. The lack of government aid and protection of the farmers resulted in the farmers economic sufferings. First, the Homestead Act was supposed to be a g...