where did agriculture begin in america

Who are famous people in the history of Agriculture?

North America. The regions north of the Rio Grande saw the origin of three, or perhaps four, agricultural complexes. Two of these developed in what is now the southwestern United States. The Upper Sonoran complex included corn, squash, bottle gourd, and the common bean and was found where rainfall was greater than about 200 mm (8 inches) annually.

What was the origin of Agriculture?

 · Agriculture began independently in both North and South America ∼10,000 years before present (YBP), within a few thousand years of the arrival of humans in the Americas. This contrasts with the thousands of years that people were present in …

What is the historical development of Agriculture?

In South America, agriculture began as early as 9000 BCE, starting with the cultivation of several species of plants that later became only minor crops. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 8000 BC and 5000 BC, along with beans, tomatoes, peanuts, coca, llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs.

What is the history of American agriculture?

A Condensed History of American Agriculture 1776–1999 1776–99 1785 The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and other agricultural groups organized 1793 Invention of cotton gin. 1800. 1802 George Washington Parke Custis instituted agricultural fair in Arlington, VA. 1810. 1810 First American agricul-tural periodical, the Agricultural Museum,

When was agriculture started in America?

Agriculture began independently in both North and South America ∼10,000 years before present (YBP), within a few thousand years of the arrival of humans in the Americas.

Who first started agriculture in America?

Colonial farming: 1610–1775. The first settlers in Plymouth Colony planted barley and peas from England but their most important crop was Indian corn (maize) which they were shown how to cultivate by the native Squanto.

Where was agriculture started?

Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago, and it has undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation. Independent development of agriculture occurred in northern and southern China, Africa’s Sahel, New Guinea and several regions of the Americas.

Where did farming originate in North America?

See also Southwest Indian. The third agricultural regime in North America was found in the eastern part of the continent. It originated in the region between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains, an area that includes the rich watersheds of rivers such as the Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

When did agriculture first start?

around 12,000 years agoTaking root around 12,000 years ago, agriculture triggered such a change in society and the way in which people lived that its development has been dubbed the “Neolithic Revolution.” Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles, followed by humans since their evolution, were swept aside in favor of permanent settlements and …

Where did farming begin in the Americas quizlet?

Where and when did farming first develop in the Americas? Farming first developed in Mesoamerica.

What were the first crops grown in the Americas?

The first American farmers: 5000 – 2500 BC The cultivation of crops in America begins in the Tehuacan valley, southeast of the present-day Mexico City. Squash and chili are the earliest plants to be grown – soon followed by corn (or maize) and then by beans and gourds.

What is the origin of food and agriculture?

Scientists believe that agriculture was established first in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East about ten or eleven thousand years B.C.E. The region was home to a variety of edible and easily cultivated crops: wheat and barley among the cereal crops, and lentils, peas, and chickpeas among the vegetables.

When did the Agricultural Revolution start?

about 12,000 years agoThe Neolithic Revolution—also referred to as the Agricultural Revolution—is thought to have begun about 12,000 years ago. It coincided with the end of the last ice age and the beginning of the current geological epoch, the Holocene.

When did agriculture arise in the Americas quizlet?

Agriculture started between 5-9 thousand years ago in Mesoamerica (modern day Mexico) and Central America where they relied on domesticated maize to develop the first settled population.

Why was the South agricultural?

The fertile soil and warm climate of the South made it ideal for large-scale farms to grow crops like tobacco and cotton. Because agriculture was so profitable, few Southerners saw a need for industrial development. Eighty percent of the labor force worked on a farm or plantation.

Where did the first crops come from?

The earliest evidence of crops appears between 9000 and 8000 bp in Mexico and South America. The first crops in eastern North America may be almost as old, but substantial evidence for crop use there begins between 5000 and 4000 bp. Corn, the crop that eventually dominated most of the agricultural systems in the New World, appears rather suddenly in Mexico between 6300 and 6000 bp but was clearly domesticated earlier than that. Indigenous peoples in the Americas domesticated fewer animal species than their Old World counterparts, in large part because the Americas were home to fewer gregarious, or herding, species of appropriate size and temperament. Substantial villages were built only after the development of most crops; this contrasts with Old World practices, in which settled villages and towns appear to have developed earlier than, or at the same time as, agriculture.

What was the most widely used crop in the Americas?

Chip and Rosa Maria de la Cueva Peterson. Corn , or maize ( Zea mays ), was the most widely used crop in the Americas and was grown nearly everywhere there was food production. Other crops had more-limited distributions.

What are the animals that live in the Americas?

Animals domesticated in the Americas included the alpaca ( Lama pacos ), the llama ( Lama glama ), the cavy, or guinea pig ( Cavia porcellus ), the Muscovy duck ( Cairina moschata ), and the turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo ). The earliest evidence of crops appears between 9000 and 8000 bp in Mexico and South America.

Which civilizations used swidden agriculture?

Complex societies such as the Maya and Aztec used swidden agriculture to some extent, but elaborate irrigation systems and tropical ecosystem management techniques were necessary to support their dense populations. In Peru the Inca built terraced fields on the steep Andean slopes.

Where did the indigenous peoples live in the Americas?

Indigenous peoples in the Americas created a variety of agricultural systems that were suited to a wide range of environments, from southern Canada to southern South America and from high elevations in the Andes to the lowlands of the Amazon River.

Did the Americas have draft animals?

Although the Americas had several indigenous animal species that were domesticated, none were of an appropriate size or temperament for use as draft animals; as a result, the plow and other technology reliant on heavy traction were unknown.

When was agriculture invented?

The history of American agriculture (1776–1990) covers the period from the first English settlers to the modern day. Below are detailed timelines covering farm machinery and technology, transportation, life on the farm, farmers and the land, and crops and livestock.

When did the commercial corn and wheat belts begin to develop?

The 1850s —Commercial corn and wheat belts began to develop; wheat occupied the newer and cheaper land west of the corn areas and was constantly being forced westward by rising land values and the encroachment of the corn areas

How much labor was required to produce 100 bushels of corn?

By 1890, labor costs continued to decrease, with only 35–40 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2-1/2 acres) of corn, because of technological advances of the 2-bottom gang plow, disk and peg-tooth harrow, and 2-row planters; and 40–50 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with gang plow, seeder, harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses.

How many hours did it take to produce 100 bushels of wheat?

By the 1830s, about 250-300 labor-hours were required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat using a walking plow, brush harrow, hand broadcast of seed, sickle, and flail.

How many acres were granted to settlers in 1862?

1862 —Homestead Act granted 160 acres to settlers who had worked the land 5 years

What were the inventions of the early 19th century aimed at?

Inventions during the early decades of the 19th century were aimed at automation and preservation.

What were the first inventions in the 1790s?

But in the 1790s, the horse-drawn cradle and scythe were introduced, the first of several inventions. 16th century —Spanish cattle introduced into the Southwest. 17th century —Small land grants commonly made to individual settlers; large tracts often granted to well-connected colonists.

Where did the third agricultural system originate?

It originated in the region between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains, an area that includes the rich watersheds of rivers such as the Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Plants of the Eastern Agricultural Complex included sunflower, squash, a native chenopod ( Chenopodium berlandieri ), amaranth ( Amaranthus species), maygrass ( Phalaris caroliniana ), sumpweed ( Iva annua ), little barley ( Hordeum pusillum ), and possibly erect knotweed ( Polygonum erectum ). Fish, shellfish, deer, acorns, walnuts ( Juglans species), and hickory nuts ( Carya species) were also important.

Where did corn originate?

Corn appears to have been the first cultigen in the Southwest. Direct radiocarbon dates place it at the Bat Cave site in the Mogollon highlands of New Mexico by 3200 bp, where squash is also present. The first beans appear about 1500 bp.

What are the three agricultural complexes in North America?

Two of these developed in what is now the southwestern United States. The Upper Sonoran complex included corn, squash, bottle gourd, and the common bean and was found where rainfall was greater than about 200 mm (8 inches) annually.

Why did the first Europeans not see the extensive geometric field production of grains with which they were familiar?

Perhaps because the first Europeans to visit the region did not witness the extensive geometric field production of grains with which they were familiar, they assumed the indigenous peoples did not have agriculture. Nevertheless, people such as the Owens Valley Paiute irrigated the grasses they used for subsistence.

How did the Eastern Archaic people become sedentary?

Eastern Archaic peoples were becoming increasingly sedentary by about 4000–3000 bp. At Poverty Point in the lower Mississippi valley (now Poverty Point National Monument ), people built a complex set of geometrically arranged mounds that date to between 3800 and 3400 bp. By 3000 bp the Eastern Agricultural Complex supported a complex socioeconomic system exemplified by cultures such as the Adena and its descendant, the Hopewell ( see also Woodland cultures ). In much of the region, communities became fully sedentary; in addition, pottery had become common, mound complexes began to be built over a wide area, and populations were growing rapidly.

Where did wild sunflowers come from?

Wild sunflower is not native to the East. Rather, wild sunflower appears to have been introduced somehow from the Colorado Plateau in the U.S. Southwest. Sunflower was never domesticated there, however; sometime after the start of the European conquest, domesticated sunflower was introduced to the region from the East.

Where was squash first domesticated?

At the Koster site in Illinois, a semipermanent village dates to 8400 bp, and a more permanent settlement was occupied beginning about 5900 bp. The earliest locally domesticated plant in the region is squash; examples appear between 8000 and 5000 bp on sites in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Maine.

When did agriculture begin?

Agriculture began independent ly in both North and South America ∼10,000 years before present (YBP), within a few thousand years of the arrival of humans in the Americas. This contrasts with the thousands of years that people were present in the old world before agriculture developed. In this paper, I hypothesize that the drastic extinctions …

How did agriculture start?

An ecological hypothesis explaining the independent onset of agriculture is that humans began to fill open herbivore niches abandoned by the extinct megaherbivores. Much of the NPP once used by these extinct animals was eventually consumed by humans through agriculture ( Doughty and Field 2010 ). There are several ways the absence of keystone herbivores could accelerate the development of agriculture. For instance, the domestication of crops is a slow process, with both corn ( Jaenicke-Despres et al. 2003 ), wheat ( Tanno and Willcox 2006 ), and other crops ( Fuller 2007) needing thousands of years to be domesticated, with humans exerting weak, rather than strong domestication pressure ( Fuller 2007 ). Such a long, weak domestication process would have been continually disrupted by the competitive herbivory of megaherbivores before they went extinct. In addition, the development of agriculture was preceded by a period of intensive foraging that would also have been more difficult with megaherbivore competition ( Richerson et al. 2001 ).

Why was agriculture accelerated?

The third hypothesis examined whether the development of agriculture was accelerated because formerly mobile hunting societies became more sedentary following the extinction of their prey ( Harris 1977 ), a precondition for the adaptation of agriculture. This argument was initially discounted due to the many millennia thought to separate the extinctions and the onset of agriculture. However, agriculture in the Americas is now thought to have begun much sooner and is generally preceded by several thousand years of intensive foraging. So the timing appears less problematic than when Harris (1977) first developed the hypothesis. Simulations indicate that these early hunters would have been under intense food pressure as their populations were drastically reduced following the extinction of the megafauna prey ( Alroy 2001 ). The extinction of the prey and the sedentary lifestyle would be a “push” towards agriculture, while more NPP and less competitive herbivory would be a “pull” ( Stark 1986) As an alternate explanation to the megafauna hypothesis, I questioned whether differences in climate between the Pleistocene and the Holocene would preferentially increase photosynthesis in the Americas, leading to increased plant growth and greater likelihood of agriculture. Neither temperature nor atmospheric CO 2 concentrations showed regional diversity that could explain variations in the timing of the start of agriculture. Changes in precipitation, however, were highly variable ( Braconnot et al. 2007 ).

When were squash and peanuts first domesticated?

For instance, a house in the mountains of the Andes was found to contain squash from ∼10,000 years ago and peanuts from ∼8,500 years ago. Genetic studies and the location of the wild ancestors indicate the crops were likely first domesticated in the warm, wet, lowland tropical forests.

When did people first arrive in the Americas?

Some genetic evidence even suggests that people could have arrived in the Americas as early as 30,000 years ago ( Torroni et al. 1994 ). However, such evidence is still slim compared to the thousands of sites where Clovis artifacts have been recovered, the oldest being 11,800 years BP. Therefore, in this paper, I assume a “Clovis first” approach, meaning that people arrived in the Americas by ∼11,800 BP. However, if evidence for significant peopling of the Americas prior to these dates were to emerge, then the results of this paper would, of course, change.

When was Cucurbita pepo first domesticated?

Smith, B. D. 1997. The initial domestication of Cucurbita pepo in the Americas 10,000 years ago. Science 276 : 932 – 934 .

Where did agriculture originate?

By 8000 BC, farming was entrenched on the banks of the Nile. About this time, agriculture was developed independently in the Far East, probably in China, with rice rather than wheat as the primary crop. Maize was domesticated from the wild grass teosinte in southern Mexico by 6700 BC.

How long ago did agriculture start?

Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago.

How did the Industrial Revolution affect agriculture?

Between the 17th century and the mid-19th century, Britain saw a large increase in agricultural productivity and net output. New agricultural practices like enclosure, mechanization, four-field crop rotation to maintain soil nutrients, and selective breeding enabled an unprecedented population growth to 5.7 million in 1750, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped drive the Industrial Revolution. The productivity of wheat went up from 19 US bushels (670 l; 150 US dry gal; 150 imp gal) per acre in 1720 to around 30 US bushels (1,100 l; 240 US dry gal; 230 imp gal) by 1840, marking a major turning point in history.

What are the social issues that modern agriculture has raised?

Modern agriculture has raised social, political, and environmental issues including overpopulation, water pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs and farm subsidies. In response, organic farming developed in the twentieth century as an alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides.

How has agriculture changed since 1900?

Since 1900, agriculture in the developed nations, and to a lesser extent in the developing world, has seen large rises in productivity as human labour has been replaced by mechanization, and assisted by synthe tic fertilizers, pesticides, and selective breeding.

What were the crops that were introduced in the Middle Ages?

In the Middle Ages, both in the Islamic world and in Europe, agriculture was transformed with improved techniques and the diffusion of crop plants, including the introduction of sugar, rice, cotton and fruit trees such as the orange to Europe by way of Al-Andalus.

Why was clover important to agriculture?

The use of clover was especially important as the legume roots replenished soil nitrates. The mechanisation and rationalisation of agriculture was another important factor.

When did commercial corn and wheat belts begin to develop?

1850’s Commercial corn and wheat belts began to develop

When did biotechnology become a viable technique for improving crop and livestock products?

1980’s Biotechnology became a viable technique for improving crop and livestock products 1985 Food Security Act low- ered government farm supports, promoted exports, and set up the Conservation Reserve Program.

When was the first cotton gin invented?

1776–99. 1785 The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and other agricultural groups organized 1793 Invention of cotton gin. 1800. 1802 George Washington Parke Custis instituted agricultural fair in Arlington, VA. 1810.

Why did people start farming?

In the Near East, for example, it’s thought that climatic changes at the end of the last ice age brought seasonal conditions that favored annual plants like wild cereals. Elsewhere, such as in East Asia, increased pressure on natural food resources may have forced people to find homegrown solutions. But whatever the reasons for its independent origins, farming sowed the seeds for the modern age.

Where did the wild produce originate?

The wild progenitors of crops including wheat, barley and peas are traced to the Near East region. Cereals were grown in Syria as long as 9,000 years ago, while figs were cultivated even earlier; prehistoric seedless fruits discovered in the Jordan Valley suggest fig trees were being planted some 11,300 years ago. Though the transition from wild harvesting was gradual, the switch from a nomadic to a settled way of life is marked by the appearance of early Neolithic villages with homes equipped with grinding stones for processing grain.

What mutation occurred during the spread of farming into southeastern Europe?

But at some point during the spread of farming into southeastern Europe, a mutation occurred for lactose tolerance that increased in frequency through natural selection thanks to the nourishing benefits of milk.

What was the farming revolution?

Taking root around 12,000 years ago, agriculture triggered such a change in society and the way in which people lived that its development has been dubbed the ” Neolithic Revolution.”. Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles, followed by humans since their evolution, were swept aside in favor of permanent settlements …

When did corn cobs first appear?

While maize-like plants derived from teosinte appear to have been cultivated at least 9,000 years ago, the first directly dated corn cob dates only to around 5,500 years ago . Corn later reached North America, where cultivated sunflowers also started to bloom some 5,000 years ago.

How long ago did goats come to Europe?

Dates for the domestication of these animals range from between 13,000 to 10,000 years ago. Genetic studies show that goats and other livestock accompanied the westward spread of agriculture into Europe, helping to revolutionize Stone Age society. While the extent to which farmers themselves migrated west remains a subject of debate, …

When did rice and millet farming start?

The origins of rice and millet farming date to around 6,000 B.C.E.

When did agriculture start?

From as early as 11,000 BCE, people began a gradual transition away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle toward cultivating crops and raising animals for food. The shift to agriculture is believed to have occurred independently in several parts of the world, including northern China, Central America, and the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East that cradled some of the earliest civilizations. 1 By 6000 BCE, most of the farm animals we are familiar with today had been domesticated. 1 By 5000 BCE, agriculture was practiced in every major continent except Australia. 2

How long has agriculture been around?

It is thought to have been practiced sporadically for the past 13,000 years, 1 and widely established for only 7,000 years. 2 In the long view of human history, this is just a flash in the pan compared to the nearly 200,000 years our ancestors spent gathering, hunting, and scavenging in the wild. During its brief history, agriculture has radically transformed human societies and fueled a global population that has grown from 4 million to 7 billion since 10,000 BCE, and is still growing. 3

What is the name of the wild food that nourished our hunter-gatherer ancestors?

Left to right: Gingerbread plum ( mobola ), baobab seed, carissa fruit. These wild foods, native to Africa, may resemble the fruits, nuts, and seeds that nourished our hunter-gatherer ancestors. There is growing interest in cultivating these “lost” crops on a larger scale—the carissa fruit tastes a little like cranberry …

How did small settlements grow into cities?

1. Agriculture produced enough food that people became free to pursue interests other than worrying about what they were going to eat that day. Those who didn’t need to be farmers took on roles as soldiers, priests, administrators, artists, and scholars.

What was the driving force behind the growth of civilizations?

For better or for worse, agriculture was a driving force behind the growth of civilizations.

When was synthetic fertilizer invented?

First introduced in the early 1900s, synthetic fertilizers dramatically increased crop yields (though not without consequences ), and have been credited with providing the lion’s share of the world’s food over the 20 th century. 27 The use of these and other chemicals has become a hallmark of industrial agriculture.

Who warned that unchecked population growth would outpace food production, setting the stage for widespread starvation

In 1798, economist Thomas Malthus warned that unchecked population growth would outpace food production, setting the stage for widespread starvation. 21 What has kept Malthus’ scenario at bay? Synthetic fertilizers, first introduced in the early 1900s, have been credited with feeding the lion’s share of the global population as it grew from 1.6 billion to 6 billion over the 20th century. 27

Where did farming originate?

The idea that farming began in a single population came from initial archaeological discoveries in one part of the Mideast — the Southern Levant , says Melinda Zeder, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Where was the first farm in the world?

The Zagros Mountain range, which lies at the border between Iran and Iraq, was home to some of the world’s earliest farmers. The Zagros Mountain range, which lies at the border between Iran and Iraq, was home to some of the world’s earliest farmers. Sometime around 12,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors began trying their hand at farming.

Where did the DNA of the ancient people live?

Burger and an international team of scientists analyzed ancient DNA from the remains of four individuals who lived about 10,000 years ago on the eastern edges of the Fertile Crescent — the Zagros Mountains on the border between Iraq and Iran. They compared the DNA of these individuals with that of skeletons that were a couple of thousand years younger and had been found way on the other end of the Fertile Crescent, a region that includes modern-day Turkey.

Where did the Zagros farmers move to?

An unpublished study by a team at Harvard Medical School confirms the genetic closeness of the early Zagros farmers with South Asians, and also shows that the early farmers of the Southern Levant (modern-day Syria and Palestine) moved to Africa, taking their farming traditions south with them. Clearly, the different populations in different parts of the Middle East migrated in different directions.

Where did farmers live?

The earliest farmers lived in the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East including modern-day Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Palestine, southeastern Turkey and western Iran. And scientists had long assumed these early farmers were a homogenous group that traded and intermingled, swapping farming tools and tricks — as well as their genes. In other words, farming was long believed to have been started by one group of ancestral humans.

Where did the Stone Age farmers come from?

Just last month, he published a study that found that late Stone Age farmers from the Turkey region had migrated north into Europe and introduced farming there. So understandably, he had expected to be able to trace European agriculture all the way back to the eastern Fertile Crescent. But that’s not what the DNA said.

Did farming start in the fertile crescent?

In other words, farming was long believed to have been started by one group of ancestral humans. But a new study suggests something different — that multiple groups of people in the Fertile Crescent started agriculture, and these groups were genetically distinct from one another.

Overview

Bibliography

• Cochrane, Willard W. The Development of American Agriculture: A Historical Analysis (1993)
• Danbom, David B. Born in the Country: A History of Rural America (1997)
• Fite, Gilbert C. American Farmers: The New Minority (Indiana U. Press, 1981) online

Pre-Colonial era

Colonial farming: 1610–1775

New nation: 1776–1860

Railroad age: 1860–1910

A dramatic expansion in farming took place from 1860 to 1910. The number of farms tripled from 2.0 million in 1860 to 6.0 million in 1906. The number of people living on farms grew from about 10 million in 1860 to 22 million in 1880 to 31 million in 1905. The value of farms soared from $8 billion in 1860 to $30 billion in 1906. The 1902 Newlands Reclamation Actfunded irrigation projects …

South, 1860–1940

Grange

The Grange was an organization founded in 1867 for farmers and their wives that was strongest in the Northeast, and which promoted the modernization not only of farming practices but also of family and community life. It is still in operation.
Membership soared from 1873 (200,000) to 1875 (858,050) as many of the state and local granges adopted non-partisan political resolutions, especially r…

1776–1800

1800–1830

The 1830s

The 1840s

The 1850s

The 1860s

• The early 1860s witnessed a dramatic change from hand power to horses, which historians characterize as the first American agricultural revolution 1. 1860—Total population: 31,443,321; Farm population: 15,141,000 (estimated); Farmers made up 58% of labor force; Number of farms: 2,044,000; Average acres: 199 2. The 1860s—Kerosene lamps became popula…

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The 1870s

The 1880s

The 1890s