Summary
American farmers concerned themselves
with land issues, taxation, and markets in the Early Republic.
Farmers continued to move westward in search of fertile,
cheap lands. The states of the Old Northwest and Old Southwest as
well as Kentucky and Tennessee provided an outlet for these emigrants.
In the 1790s, farmers armed themselves in protest against an excise tax
on whiskey. The Whiskey Rebellion began in Pennsylvania but spread
to other states, and President Washington mustered troops to quell the
insurrection.
In 1819, inventor Jethro Wood patented
a cast iron plow with interchangeable parts. The plow proved popular
as far west Indiana, and was advertised in newspapers across the state
in the 1820s. The opening of the Erie Canal
and other man-made waterways provided a more affordable means of transport
for goods between the west and east.
Primary Accounts