Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas after Reconstruction

Abstract

Hiram Drache's "Midwest Agriculture: Changing With Technology."Drache suggests that small farms will continue to be absorbed by ever-larger producing units, and he contends that this trend is good because it contributes to greater efficiency.Less controversial is Don Paarlbert's "Agriculture Two Hundred Years From Now," but many will disagree with his optimistic projections.Several useful historiographical essays by recognized experts in the field are also included in this collection.Theodore Saloutos surveys immigrants in American agriculture, Harry Fornari sketches the history of grain exports, Allan Bogue discusses credit in the North, Paul Gates overviews land policy, and Gilbert Fite assesses the contribution of the pioneer farmer.In each case the author does what should be done in a useful historiographical essay by raising questions for further study while evaluating what has already been done.Most of the articles in this volume concern the staples of agricultural history-land and credit, money, politics, marketing, and technology.But those who believe that agricultural historians should devote more attention to the social aspects of agriculture will find reasons for hope here.For example, Mary W. M. Hargreaves looks at the settlement of the Great Plains through the eyes of women who published accounts ofthat settlement, and she suggests some of the effects the region might have had on women.And Gladys Baker sensitively explores the difficulties women have faced in their attempts to advance in the male-dominated United States Department of Agriculture.Hopefully, this interest in an area of social history by two of our leading agricultural historians is a sign of things to come in this sub-discipline.The remainder of the articles included in this volume are less exciting, and a few are quite disappointing.Fortunately, these lesser efforts do not alter substantially the general quality of the collection.Taken as a whole.