Agriculture developments in the Northeast

Question 1

Describe the economic legacy of the Civil War on the North.

Answer 1

The demands of the war had stimulated business and industry, bringing rapid economic modernisation.

Question 2

In the North and East, what did agriculture benefit from?

Answer 2

The expanding markets in the growing towns and cities.

Question 3

What had cities like Chicago and Pittsburgh become by the 1880s?

Answer 3

Hubs of a wide distribution network, shipping meat products, cereals and canned foods to the urban Northeast, and timber for construction on the treeless Great Plains.

Question 4

What was an essential part of this growth in the cities?

Answer 4

The railroad companies, although they had monopoly powers and set freight rates as high as they pleased.

Question 5

What was agriculture in the Northeast dependent on?

Answer 5

Market forces it could not control. This vulnerability was even greater for farmers in the South and the West.