Brita Fisher

Marston
AP U.S. History
5/26/10
 AMERICAN HISTORY
Section II
Part A
(Suggested writing time—40 minutes)
Percent of Section II score—50

Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that
integrates your interpretation of Documents A-H and you knowledge of the period
referred to in the question. In your essay, you should strive to support your assertions
both by citing key pieces of evidence from the documents and by drawing on your
knowledge of the period.

1. The agricultural crisis of the 1980s is representative of struggles that have

plagued farmers since 1920. To what extent does this statement hold true?

Document A

Source: The Washington Post, “Take Up Farm Crisis” (November 30, 1920)
Republican senators from the Western wheat-growing and livestock
States met at the Capitol yesterday to determine upon a legislative
program for the relief of the farmers of the country, who are
confronted by a possible loss of $2,500,000,000 by being obliged to
sacrifice their products in a failing market without relief from the
banks. It was decided to hold a conference on Friday, at which
practically all the Western senators will be present, and later it s
proposed to extend the scope to include Democratic senators as
well…
The bottom has dropped out of wheat and the livestock market is
paralyzed. Sheep are selling at $2.50 to $5 which brought $10 or $12
a year ago. Wool won’t bring more than a third of what it brought
last year, there are immense stocks in the country, the War
Department is selling its surplus stores at prices which cannot be
met, and foreign countries are getting ready to dump their wool
supplies into the United States before a new tariff law can be written
and a duty put on wool. Western beef steers won’t bring over 50 or
60 percent of what they brought last year. In Kansas the number of
hogs has been cut down in six months from 3,000,000 head to
600,000 head, the lowest point reached in eighteen years.
Western banks have loaned to farmers up to the limit of their ability
to help, and the farmers, without credit, are being forced to sell their
wheat, grain, mutton and livestock at prices so far below cost that
they are threatened with ruin.

Document B

Source: New York Times (September 25, 1932)

 Source: New York Times (September 25, 1932)

Document C

Source: Bernhard Ostrolenk, New York Times, “The Farmer’s Plight: A

Far-Reaching
Crisis” (September 25, 1932)
The farm crisis confronting the nation has again been vividly brought
to the forefront by recent events, notably the series of producers’
strikes and the conference of mid-West Governors called to deal with
the agricultural problems. More than that, farm relief has become a
major campaign issue. Governor Roosevelt’s Topeka speech in which
he canvassed the farmers’ troubles and presented a six-point
program for their solution, has been followed by the announcement
that President Hoover has decided to state his own views on the
subject in his first address of the campaign.
“With incomparable natural wealth within reach of these progressive
farmers,” said Governor Roosevelt at Topeka, “they struggle with
poverty and unbelievably hard times.”
This is no exaggerated summary. Prices for agricultural commodities
now have fallen so low that large numbers of farmers—they are to be
found even on the most fertile lands—are receiving an income
insufficient to cover taxes and interest on their mortgages, not to
mention a return on their investments or adequate compensation for
their labor

Document D
Source: Library of Congress, Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother”
 Document E

Source: Lewis C. French, Special Correspondent of The Wall Street

Journal, “Farmer’s
Plight” (April 10, 1946)
The American farmer, the man who has to deliver the goods with a
“record food production” that other people talk about, is a troubled
citizen.
Asked to produce as much or more than he did during the rush war
years, he looks over the machinery, labor, seed and fertilizer
shortages, and is inclined to ask—“With what?”
A survey of his plight in Wisconsin, a typical Midwestern farm area
and key dairy state, shows what the farmer is up against.
First is machinery. His need for it is acute. For more than four years,
he has been making the old machines do—patching and repairing.
His tractor wheezes and he wants a new combine—also those labor
saving hay choppers and balers. But just when he expected more, he
gets less and less. An epidemic of strikes in the farm machinery
industry has slashed production.
Many also wait for electricity. Production of farms…is increased by
availability of electricity. And in Wisconsin alone there are now over
30,000 farmers on the waiting list (have filed applications) for
electrical service. Meanwhile, utility companies say that strike-born
shortages of essential equipment and materials have almost wiped
out hopes for expansion this year.
 Document F

Source: Larry Green, Los Angeles Times, “Farmers in Midwest Face a

Grim Year”
(April 20, 1980)
Spirit Lake, Iowa—Midwest farmers, now engaging in the annual
spring planting ritual, fear that this year may bring a bumper crop of
economic woes. Some even believe that the seeds for problems
rivaling the Depression days of the 1930s have already been sown
across the vast heartland.
From Illinois to Nebraska the mood is grim. Farmers face a crippling
array of inflation, tight money, high interest, low prices for livestock,
corn and beans—and the added impact of the U.S. embargo on grain
shipments to the Soviet Union.
Hogs marketed for slaughter last week sold for up to $20 less than it
cost to raise them. At current prices, crops being planted now will
not sell for enough to cover production costs for most farmers.
Fertilizer costs are up about 20% this year and fuel bills will increase
by at least 40%, according to agricultural analysts.
Overall, farm production costs will rise 35% or more, according to
some economists, far above the current 18% rate of inflation. The
federal government is predicting up to a 25% drop in farm income
this year. In Colorado the state Department of Agriculture predicts a
52% drop in net farm income this year compared to 1979.
 Document G

Source: Ward Sinclair, The Washington Post, “Farm Failures Threaten

to Reshape
Rural U.S.” (January 27, 1985)
“The problem is at the crisis stage,” Nebraska banking commissioner
Roger Beverage said. “There sure as hell is no economic recovery in
Nebraska and it spills into all we do in Main Street…It is a parade of
horribles. The people in Washington have to realize this is not a joke.
This is a depression.”
The story is similar all around the Midwest, the fertile bread basket
that produces the bulk of the wheat, corn and soybeans that feed the
nation and bring in billions of export dollars.
The reasons for the crunch of 1985 are many, but they can be boiled
down this way: Low farm prices, continuing high interest rates,
plummeting land and machinery values that rose beyond worth in the
inflationary 1970s, a strong dollar that has depressed exports and
overproduction of basic goods.
Document H
 Source: Raw data are from U.S. Department of Agriculture

Outside information:

Roaring 20s
Mechanized Farming
The Lost Generation
Republican Government (Harding/Coolidge)
Great Depression
The Great Crash
Declining Exports
International Debt Structure
Banking Collapse
Dust Bowl
“Okies”
Grapes of Wrath
Hoovervilles
FDR
Agricultural Adjustment Act
Rural Electrification (TVA)
WWII
Cold War
Ronald Reagan
“Reaganomics”/”Supply-side” economics
Recession
Deregulation
National Deficit
“Stagflation”

Document Analysis

1. Document A: “Take Up Farm Crisis” describes a convention of

western, republican senators in Washington to discuss relief for
 farmers. As early as 1920, while the rest of the country prepared
for an economic boom, farmers were already loosing billions of
dollars, and their incomes continued to decrease steadily
throughout the 1920s. Because the agricultural and
commodities market is unstable, it often indicates future
economic problems. If credit is tight for farmers, they cannot
invest money in machinery, land, labor, or seeds and cannot
make a living. Eventually the problems farmers face will spread
to the rest of America, when tight credit prevents everyone from
investing.

2. Document B: The first graph emphasizes the rapidity of the

decline in farmer’s income. To drop from 15.5 billion in 1919 to
5 billion in 1932 suggests massive economic problems. Another
indicator of trouble is that the price at which a farmer buys is
higher than the price at which he sells from 1920 to 1932.
Though the rest of the country experienced an economic boom
during the 1920s, farmers saw a severe drop in agricultural
prices at the beginning of the decade, maintained a steady loss
throughout the decade, and as the 1930s began, an incredible
decline in selling points compared to buying trends. America’s
prosperity during the 20s did not help the farmers enough to
allow them to make a profit, even though the economy was
healthy in general.

3. Document C: By 1932, the stock market had crashed and

people were dissatisfied with the way Hoover was handling
American economics. Because farmers were among the hardest
hit, their “plight” became a national debate topic. Their welfare
had only worsened since 1921, but the economic prosperity of
the country allowed the issue to sit in the background. In 1932
there was another conference, this time of Midwest governors, to
decide how to deal with the agricultural problems. Governor
Roosevelt’s “six-point program” foreshadows the legislation he
will pass through the New Deal to solve the agricultural crisis.
Following a step-by-step clear solution was undoubtedly
appealing for farmers who had been struggling since 1920.

4. Document D: Dorothea Lange’s famous photograph, “Migrant

Mother,” represents farmer’s struggles throughout the 20th
century, not just during the Dust Bowl. Her weary expression,
worn clothes, and her tired and dirty children epitomize the
collective hardships of the American farmer. The photo shows
how men are not the only ones affected by agricultural crises,
the women and children suffer as well. The migrant mother is an
excellent example of just how bad conditions got during the
 Great Depression. She portrays the ultimate outcome of an
agricultural depression, farmers abandoning their own farms in
search of work and income for their families elsewhere.

5. Document E: The post-WWII era was another prosperous time

for America. The U.S. emerged from the conflict as the number
one economic power in the world. But yet again the “American
farmer…is a troubled citizen.” “Farmer’s Plight” reports an
agricultural crisis during a time of supposed prosperity. The lack
of machinery, labor, seed, and fertilizer prevents farmers from
producing anything, let alone “record food production.” While
the companies that made weapons for the war prospered from
their increase in production, the farmers waited for factories to
resume the production of farm machinery rather than tanks.

6. Document F: Though it has been 60 years, the farmer’s

complaints sound very similar to those of the 1920s. Tight
money, high interest, and low prices are all familiar woes.
However, this article is not a report on what the government is
trying to do; it is a list of grievances trying to draw attention to
the issue again. Farmer’s in America have long had a tough
time, but their plight surfaces when an external recession or
depression exacerbates the problem and sparks debate.

7. Document G: In 1985 the agricultural crisis began affecting

Main Street. The 80s were a time of general economic unrest,
with the prevalent “stagflation,” and the government wasn’t
always sure how to fix the issues. As seen in earlier American
history, the farmer’s see trouble before any other sector. The
reasons for the crunch, “low farm prices, high interest rates, and
plummeting land values” cripple farmers right away as their
credit tightens and they sink deeper into debt. Ronald Reagan’s
supply-side economics didn’t directly address the farmer’s
complaints. In the case of farm crises, the change over time is
not so much how the problems arise, those reasons remain
constant, but how the government chooses to address the
problems facing farmers.

8. Document H: The chart on gross income and return on farmer’s

investments gives the numbers to back up the claims of
documents F and G. The years where farmers made the most
gross income per acre were also the times when they made the
least % return on their investments. Since the chart gives data
from 1970 to 1990 it gives a clear picture of how the agricultural
market, corn and soybeans especially, suffers from fluctuating
 prices that never really reach a high enough point to make a
good profit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

French, Lewis C. “Farmer’s Plight.” Wall Street Journal 10 Apr. 1946:

1,2. Historical Newspapers. Web. 25 May 2010.

Green, Larry. “Farmers in Midwest Face a Grim Year.” Los Angeles

Times 20 Apr. 1980: 3. Historical Newspapers. Web. 25 May

2010.

Lange, Dorothea. Migrant Mother. Feb. 1936. Library of Congress:

Prints & Photographs Division—FSA/OWI Collection. SIRS

Decades. Web. 25 May 2010.

Ostrolenk, Bernhard. “The Farmer’s Plight: A Far-Reaching Crisis.”

New York Times 25 Sept. 1932: 1. Historical Newspapers. Web.

25 May 2010.

Sinclair, Ward. “Farm Failures Threaten To Reshape Rural U.S.” The

Washington Post 27 Jan 1985: 1,2. Historical Newspapers. Web.

25 May 2010.

“Take Up Farm Crisis.” The Washington Post 30 Nov. 1920: 1.

Historical Newspapers. Web. 25 May 2010.

United States. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. History of the

80s—Lessons for the Future. Volume I, Chapter 8. FDIC Division

of Research and Statistics. 5 July 2000. Web. 25 May 2010.