1776-83 Revolutionary War boom 1784-88 Postwar depression and deflation; maritime commerce prosperity 17th century Farmers near water transportation grow some cash crops for trade; farmers inland emphasize subsistence farming 18th century Northern farmers produce a variety of crops and livestock, sometimes supplemented by craftwork; Southern plantation agriculture concentrates on export crops. 1776 Declaration of Independence results partly from British controls on farm exports, restrictions on land titles, and limitations on western settlement 1786 Shay's Rebellion, a farmers' revolt against deflation 1791 First National Bank chartered 17th century Small land grants commonly made to individual settlers; large tracts often granted to well-connected colonists 1607 First permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia 1619 First African slaves brought to Virginia; by 1700, slaves are displacing southern indentured servants 18th century English farmers settle in New England villages; Dutch, German, Swedish, Scotch-Irish, and English farmers settle on isolated Middle Colony farmsteads; English and some French farmers settle on plantations in tidewater and on isolated Southern Colony Farmsteads in Piedmont; Spanish immigrants, mostly lower middle-class and indentured servants, settle the Southwest and California. 1776 Continental Congress offers land grants for service in the Continental Army 1785, 1787 Ordinances of 1785 and 1787 provide for survey, sale, and government of northwestern lands 1790 Total population: 3,929,214; farmers 90% of labor force; U.S. area settled extends westward on average of 255 miles; parts of the frontier cross the Appalachians 1796 Public Land Act authorizes Federal land sales to the public in minimum 640-acre plots at $2 per acre of credit. 18th century Oxen and horses for power, crude wooden plows, all sowing by hand, cultivating by hoe, hay and grain cutting with sickle, and threshing with flail 1790s Cradle and scythe introduced; invention of cotton gin (1793); Thomas Jefferson's plow with moldboard of least resistance tested (1794) 1797 Charles Newbold patents first cast-iron plow 17th and 18th centuries All forms of domestic livestock, except turkeys, are imported at some time; crops borrowed from Indians include maize, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, gourds, squashes, watermelons, beans, grapes, berries, pecans, black walnuts, peanuts, maple sugar, tobacco, and cotton 17th and 18th centuries New crops from Europe include clover, alfalfa, timothy, small grains, and fruits and vegetables; African slaves introduce grain and sweet sorghum, melons, okra, and peanuts 18th century Tobacco is the chief cash crop of the South 1793 First Merino sheep imported 1795-1815 Sheep industry greatly emphasized in New England 18th century Transportation by water, on trails, or through wilderness 1794 Lancaster Turnpike opened, first successful toll road 17th century Tobacco is the first important American export 18th century Colonies export tobacco, rice, indigo, grain, and meat products 1789 First tariff act, for revenue only 1789-1860 The tariff is a perennial subject of contention between the agricultural interests of the South and West and the commercial interests of the North 1790 Value of tobacco exports: $4.36 million or 44% of total exports 17th century Farmers endure rough pioneer life while adapting to new environment 18th century Ideas of progress, human perfectibility, rationality, and scientific improvement flourish in the New World; small family farms predominate, except for plantations in southern coastal areas; housing ranges from crude log cabins to substantial frame, brick, or stone houses; farm families manufacture many necessities 18th century Civic and intellectual leaders in colonial and revolutionary America copy the aristocratic and fashionable Europe interest in agriculture, science, and commerce, and form societies to promote these interests 1785 The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and other rural concerns are organized 1794 Whiskey Rebellion, a farmers' revolt against taxes on grain in whiskey 1647 Massachusetts Bay Colony requires elementary school in towns of at least 50 families and Latin school in towns of at least 100 families 18th century Essay upon Field Husbandry written by Jared Eliot of Connecticut 1785 Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia contains one of the finest detailed descriptions of agriculture in an American State and asserts the virtues of rural life 18th century Local governments often regulate the prices of basic foodstuffs 1799 George Washington suggests to Congress the establishment of a National Board of Agriculture   Next Decade >>
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