Question

Why did farmers blame big businesses for their hardships

Answer 1

Big businesses had the ability to produce crops faster than farmers putting farmers out of business

Answer 2

Answer:

The 19th century in the United States, especially in the area of agriculture, saw a lot of changes happening. With the arrival of railroads, and other technology, businesses were able to bloom and were favored because they were able not only to produce more, but also get their products to all available markets in the country. There was also the matter of banks, whose loans would allow businesses to develop, at favorable rates, which were easily repaid with the surplus production of big businesses. However, this great boom did not favor small farmers and food producers, because they soon were overcome by the fact that what they produced and sold did not compensate for either the costs of bank loans they acquired, nor of transportation fees. Also, they were not able to compete in prices with the bigger businesses. The result was dissatisfaction and rebellion on the parts of these small farmers who blamed big businesses for their issues.

What these farmers blamed big businesses for, was: 1. the monopolies that developed between these businesses and the railroad companies, which favored the businesses in transportation rates, and not the farmers. 2. For encouraging the rise in prices in transportation of goods, which farmers could not meet and also because overall selling prices offered by these businesses were much lower, and more competitive than the ones smaller farmers could offer and 3. Because due to the lack of balance, farmers were forced to take in loans from banks, in order to be able to compete with the bigger businesses, and these loans were being repaid at really high rates that ended up bankrupting a lot of the smaller farmers.