1983 DBQ- Expansionism
For American farmers, the late nineteenth century resulted in a difficult economic standpoint. Monopoly Railroad companies overcharged for the shipping of the farmers' produce, merchants sold essential tools and seed on ten- percent interest, and deflation of the American Dollar. Agrarian discontent stemmed from a variety of reasons and was relatively valid. One threat farmers saw was the deflation of currency. Deflation would cause the value of money to rise, which would then cause the farmers to receive less money for their crops. The shortage of money caused a slow agony full of long-term debts for the farmer. They couldn't raise enough produce to pay for what had coast less before. What now cost 3,000 bushels of wheat, used to cost only 10,000 bushels. They blamed the economic hardship on the shortage of money. Inflation would cause money to have less value, but the farmers would be able to pay their debts more easily because they wou
The farmers thought that these higher prices would further decrease their profits and drive them to bankruptcy. The competition on those routes drove rates so low that no profit was being made on long distance shipments. In addition, the Populists did not take into account that their own overproduction of crops contributed to falling prices. The railroads claimed they followed this pricing policy because long distance shipping was cheaper; the freight only had to be attached to the local trains that were already paid for. And the railroads do have the right to make a profit, but their rates had to be regulated when it came to the well being of the people. The railroads were charging very high prices to the farmers who used routes that the railroad monopolized. Despite the fact that the railroad needed to make up profits lost on highly competitive routes, they also increased their profits excessively, to the point where farmers could no longer afford to ship their crops. They thought that the purpose of deflation was a conspiracy to increase the wealth of creditors and businessmen at the expense of the common man. If they increased prices on long distance shipping, business would turn to competing companies. Long distance routes, however, had a great deal of competition. ld be charged lower interest rates on the same dollar amount. It would, however, backfire and they would end up with a more difficult time trying to make a profit. Besides difficulty of paying debts, farmers also saw increasing railroad shipping rates as a threat to stability.
Common topics in this essay:
Dollar Agrarian,
President McKinley,
Populist Party,
Monopoly Railroad,
DBQ American,
railroad companies,
distance shipping,
difficulty paying debts,
,
farmers late,
shortage money,
distance routes,
populist party,
paying debts,
difficulty paying,
profits lost,
routes increased,
|
Acceptance Essays
