I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. In the 1860s, when many men marched off to the Civil War, many farms were left to the care of women, …
American Agriculture History Minute: The Economy and Agriculture’s Move West
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. No surprise, the U.S. economy was primarily agriculturally based in the early 19th century. Westward expansion, including the Louisiana Purchase and …
American Agriculture History Minute: Learning the Laws of Supply and Demand
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Farmers and ranchers in early American agriculture quickly learned about the laws of supply and demand. The cotton gin made it …
American Agriculture History Minute: Agriculture Differences Across America
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Agriculture in the South was much different than that in the Midwest and in New England. In the Southern states, the …
American Agriculture History Minute: Railroads Part in Agriculture Expansion
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Railroads played an important part in the expansion of American agriculture in the mid-1860s. The federal government issued 160-acre tracts for …
American Agriculture History Minute: Becoming Stewards of the Soil
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. We like to think that early American farmers and ranchers were good stewards of the soil, like farmers and ranchers are …
American Agriculture History Minute: Settling and Farming the Plains
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Iowa is located where the great eastern forests and the prairies of the western United States met. There’s not a straight …
American Agriculture History Minute: Homestead Act of 1862
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. By 1813, the western frontier had reached the Mississippi River. St. Louis was the largest town on the frontier and it …
American Agriculture History Minute: Plantation Agriculture Begins
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Plantation agriculture began in the 1600s and 1700s. Developed in Virginia, first of all, and then spreading to Maryland where tobacco …
American Agriculture History Minute: Radio Introduced to Rural America
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Radio is an important part in the history of American agriculture. Broadcasting information to rural America started very soon after the …
American Agriculture History Minute: Learning Soil Preservation by Crop Rotation
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Early settlers, unfortunately, tended to be careless with the use and care of their soil. This was the case across the …
American Agriculture History Minute: Early Settlers Crop Progression
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The first settlers in Plymouth Colony planted mostly barley and peas with seeds they brought with them from England. But their …
American Agriculture History Minute: Ethnicity in Early Agriculture
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Ethnicity made a big difference in early American agriculture. German Americans, for example, brought with them practices and traditions that were …
American Agriculture History Minute: British Attempt to Restrict Westward Movement
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Westward expansion in the U .S. did not come easy or did not come early on. The British Empire attempted to …