Title: The Economics of American Farm Unrest, 1865-1900
Headings: The Economics of American Farm Unrest, 1865-1900
The Economics of American Farm Unrest, 1865-1900
James I. Stewart, Reed College
The Debate about the Causes of Farm Unrest
The Complaints of Farmers
The Puzzle of Farm Unrest
The Causes of Farm Unrest
The Historical Significance of Farm Unrest
The Sources of Cooperation in the Farm Protest Movement
References

Content: Why did they feel so threatened? The Complaints of Farmers
The complaints of farmers are well documented (Buck, 1913; Hicks, 1931) and relatively uncontroversial. They concerned farmers’ declining incomes and fractious business relationships primarily. First, farmers claimed that farm prices were falling and, as a consequence, so were their incomes. They generally blamed low prices on over-production. Second, farmers alleged that monopolistic railroads and grain elevators charged unfair prices for their services. Government regulation was the farmers’ solution to the problem of monopoly. Third, there was a perceived shortage of credit and money. Farmers believed that interest rates were too high because of monopolistic lenders, and the money supply was inadequate, producing deflation.