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.
1800
1800
Total Population: 5,308,483
1803
Louisiana Purchase
1810
Total population: 7,239,881
1819
Florida and other land acquired through treaty with Spain
1820
1820
Total population: 9,638,453; Land Law allows as little as 80 acres of public land for a minimum price of $1.25 an acre; credit system abolished
1830
Total population: 12,866,020; Mississippi River forms the approximate frontier boundary
1830-37
Land speculation boom
1839
Anti-rent war in New York, a protest against the continued collection of quitrents
1840
1840
Total population: 17,069,453; farm population; 9,012,000 (est.); farmers 69% of labor force
1841
Pre-emption Act gives squatters first rights to buy land
1845-55
Potato famine in Ireland and the German Revolution of 1848 greatly increase immigration
1845-53
Texas, Oregon, the Mexican cession, and the Gadsden Purchase added to the Union
1849
Gold Rush
1850
Total population: 23,191,786; farm population; 11,680,000 (est.); farmers 64% of labor force; Number of farms: 1,449,000; average acres: 203
1850s
Successful farming on the prairies begins; with the California gold rush, the frontier extends to the Pacific coast
1850-62
Free land is a vital rural issue
1854
Graduation Act reduces price of unsold public lands
1860
1860
Total population: 31,443,321; farm population: 15,141,000 (est.); farmers 58% of labor force; Number of farms: 2,044,000; average acres: 199
1862
Homestead Act grants 160 acres to settlers who have worked the land 5 years
1865-70
Sharecropping system in the South replaces the old slave plantation system 1865-90 Influx of Scandinavian immigrants
1866-77
Cattle boom accelerates settlement of Great Plains; range wars develop between farmers and ranchers
1870
Total population: 38,558,371; farm population: 18,373,000 (est.); farmers 53% of labor force; Number of farms: 2,660,000; average acres: 153
1880
1880
Total population: 50,155,783; farm population: 22,981,000 (est.); farmers 49% of labor force; Number of farms: 4,009,000; average acres: 134; Most humid land already settled; heavy agricultural settlement on the Great Plains begins
1880-1914
Most immigrants are from southern and eastern Europe
1887-97
Drought reduces settlement on the Great Plains
1890s
Increases in land under cultivation and number of immigrants becoming farmers boost agricultural output
1890
Total population: 62,941,714; farm population: 29,414,000 (est.); farmers 43% of labor force; Number of farms: 4,565,000; average acres: 136; Census shows that the frontier settlement is over
1891
President authorized to set aside public lands as forest reserves
1900
1900
Total population: 75,994,266; farm population: 29,414,000 (est.); farmers 38% of labor force; Number of farms: 5,740,000; average acres: 147
1900-20
Continued agricultural settlement on the Great Plains
1902
Reclamation Act
1905-07
Policy of reserving timberlands inaugurated on a large scale
1905
Forest Service created
1910
1910
Total population: 91,972,266; farm population: 32,077,000 (est.); farmers 31% of labor force; Number of farms: 6,366,000; average acres: 138
1909-20
Dryland farming boom on the Great Plains
1911-17
Immigration of agricultural workers from Mexico
1916
Stock Raising Homestead Act
1920
1920
Total population: 105,710,620; farm population: 31,614,269; farmers 27% of labor force; Number of farms: 6,454,000; average acres: 148
1924
Immigration Act greatly reduces number of new immigrants
1930
1930
Total population: 122,775,046; farm population: 30,455,350; farmers 21% of labor force; Number of farms: 6,295,000; average acres: 157; irrigated acres: 14,633,252
1932-36
Drought and dust-bowl conditions develop
1934
Executive orders withdraw public lands from settlement, location, sale, or entry; Taylor Grazing Act
1940
1940
Total population: 131,820,000; farm population: 30,840,000; farmers 18% of labor force; Number of farms: 6,102,000; average acres: 175; irrigated acres: 17,942,968
1940s
Many former southern sharecroppers migrate to war-related jobs in cities
1950
1950
Total population: 151,132,000; farm population: 25,058,000; farmers 12.2% of labor force; Number of farms: 5,388,000; average acres: 216; irrigated acres: 25,634,869