Example research essay topic: Railroad Companies Agricultural Depression - 1,018 words

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The late 19 th century can be described as a time of political prosperity in America. The majority of citizens were living successfully and there was peace throughout the country, but between the years of 1880 and 1900, many farmers faced problems that they saw as threats to their way of life. There was a dramatic drop in the profits that farmers accumulated from the harvesting of their crops, such as cotton, and with the improvements in transportation, foreign competition was spreading throughout the country making it difficult for farmers to sell their crops. These factors along with others inevitably caused an agricultural depression, leading to the formation of farmer groups such as the Populist Party, which would help to reduce the problems troubling the farmers. Some problems that these farmers felt threatened their way of life included transportation, such as trains, monopolies and trusts, money shortage and the demonetizing of silver. The growth of railroads was very beneficial to industries across America.

Although, the benefits bought to these companies were at the expense of farmers. The competition between railroad companies led to a method of dispensing rebates in order to attract larger companies. Basically the railroad companies as stated by George W. Parker, vice president of the Cairo Short Line Railroad, said that the local business of the road of itself is not of sufficient volume to make up paying trains, nor is it sufficient to make the earnings, over and above current expenses, sufficient to meet the fixed charges against the road. In order to correct this problem Mr. Parker continues to say So that in order to run paying trains generally endeavor to get a connection for through business to be super-added to the local business when we make up a train of ten or fifteen cars of local freight to go over our line from Saint Louis, we can attach fifteen or twenty cars more of strictly through business.

We can take the latter at a very low rate rather than go without it. (Document G) These practices seriously hurt the farmers by raising their shipping rates in order to lower that of larger companies. A farmer named Dyke exemplifies the loss of business of a farmer from the rising rates of Railroad companies. The Railroad had raised the rate on hops from two cents to five The new rate ate up every cent of his gains. (Document H) The increase the rates of Railroad companies not only made farmers lose profits but it even caused many of those farmers bound by contract to fall into debt. Although these Railroad companies gained the business of larger companies they hurt the business of farmers, and thus the farmers complaints were valid. Another threat to the way of life of farmers would be the formation of monopolies and trusts.

The farmers felt that the monopolies basically controlled every aspect of business giving them the power to increase the price leaving the consumers helpless. James B. Weaver, the Populist Partys presidential candidate in the 1892 election, in his work, A Call to Action: An Interpretation of the Great Uprising, its Source and Causes, summarizes how when monopolies are organized they destroy competition and restrain trade... Once they secure control of a given line of business, they are masters of the situation. (Document F) This centralization of power allows monopolies to fix prices, making them unreasonably high if they chose to do so. The statements of James B.

Weaver were simply possibilities and history has shown that there were no unreasonably high prices set to cause agrarian discontent, therefore the complaints of farmers that Monopolies were a threat is invalid. Probably the most important factors that led to the agricultural depression of that time were deflation and the fall in prices of crops. In response to this problem there was the formation of the Populist Party whose main goal was to fight demonetization of silver and to help increase the circulation of money. The Populist Party during the election of 1892 called for the unlimited coinage of silver and the increase of money in circulation. A quote from J.

Laurence Laughlin's article, "Causes of Agricultural Unrest" states that Feeling the coils of some mysterious power about them, the farmers... have attributed their misfortunes to the 'constriction' in prices, caused, as they think, not by an increased production of wheat throughout the world, but by the 'scarcity of gold'. (Document E) In general, farmers were blaming the problems of constricting prices, not on the increased production of wheat throughout the world, but due to the scarcity of gold. It is true that the money supply was not sufficiently growing enough for the increasing population, as seen in Document C, but the amount of money really had no affect on the constriction of prices. In reality, the lowering of prices was due to the increased production of crops over the world.

Furthermore the issue of the demonetizing of silver really had no influence on the success of farmers, because as William McKinley states in his acceptance speech, Free silver would not mean that silver dollars were to be freely had without cost or labor. It would not make labor easier, the hours shorter, or the pay better debasement of the currency means destruction of values. It is mere pretense to attribute the hard times to the fact that all our currency is on a gold basis. Good money never made times hard (Document B) Many farmers saw the unlimited coining of silver and an increase in the circulation of money as a solution to their problems, but in reality the cause of their problems were changes in the output of crops by the rest of the world. In conclusion, the farmers of the late nineteenth century faced hard times. These problems were caused by falling prices and business practices of the railroad companies.

The farmers credited monopolies and the shortage of money in circulation, along with the demonetizing of silver as the source of their problems, yet these issues proved to have no relevance to the problems faced by farmers.

Research essay sample on Railroad Companies Agricultural Depression