The advent of commercial agriculture helped to shape outlook, prosperity and living standards of the people in the American West. This movement is considered as an important part of the American history because it entailed the transformation of a rural agrarian society into an urban industrial society is due to self-sufficiency in agriculture. As people continued to adopt this method, change and development became inevitable in political, environmental and social spheres. This essay provides an exploration of commercial agriculture and the impact it had on the American West.
Commercial agriculture brought a number of social changes to the people of the American West. The need for an increase in the production levels of food in farms led to a shift in farming methods from small-scale to large-scale methods ( Deverell & Deverell, 2008 ). This sparked an increase in the population and the advent of urbanization in the region since more people moved to urban towns to find employment. New class and family structures emerged as a means of adjusting to the new wage economy. There was also a notable improvement of living standards for the people as a result of economic growth.
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The American West experienced a wave of political changes as a result of Commercial agriculture. There was increased demand for the improvement of social welfare, labor rights, education, equality, political rights, and subsidies from the government. In addition to this, the formulation of agricultural policies also shaped the issues affecting the fabric of the region’s politics ( Knobloch, 1996 ).
From the discussion provided above, it is evident that commercial agriculture greatly influenced the social and political spheres of the American West. A shift from home-based farming to large-scale production led to the adoption of new technologies which enhanced production in the region. Consequently, this led to an increase in populations, especially in urban areas where people moved in search of employment. Political changes in labor welfares, rights and policies were also felt as a result of commercial agriculture.
References
Deverell, W., & Deverell, W. F. (2008). A Companion to the American West . Hoboken: Wiley.
Knobloch, F. (1996). The culture of wilderness: Agriculture as colonization in the American West . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
