Americans have found it difficult in their history to reconcile the conflicting demands of agriculture and industry. The problem dates back to the foundation of the republic.

AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY IN AMERICA , 1789-1840

In the early years of the American republic , agriculture and industry had a somewhat ambiguous relationship . While the two often supported each other 's development , they also attracted support from opposing political factions and seemed at odds during the United States ' early history

The conflict between them dates to the republic 's creation particularly to the political clashes between Thomas Jefferson and Treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton . These two figures had sharply different views of what direction the new nation should take Jefferson , a Virginia

planter who embraced broad democracy , advocated a primarily agrarian nation of farmers and artisans and urged westward migration as a way to broaden agriculture . This scheme drew support from farmers and especially Southern planters , who already despised Hamilton and his Northern urban backers (Wikipedia , Alexander Hamilton

On the other hand , Hamilton , a New York lawyer and merchant with strong elitist leanings , had a perhaps more realistic economic vision . He wanted the new federal government to help financiers and large merchants , thus creating an economy based on manufacturing , trade , and finance - basically , an industrial nation instead of an agrarian one Jefferson opposed this on political grounds , believing that the United States needed landowning citizens in to maintain democracy if Hamilton 's plan succeeded , he claimed , the United States would be a society of poor , propertyless laborers without political freedom (Wikipedia , Alexander Hamilton

Despite the political battles over them , American agriculture and industry grew together and supported one another . Initially agriculture suffered as a result of Hamilton 's policies . As farming families moved westward in large numbers , established Eastern farming communities suffered from loss of labor this was further exacerbated as rural people moved into towns in search of work . As a result , farmers were forced to change their methods in to keep their farms viable However , they faced pressures from planters who wanted western lands for slavery-based plantations , not for yeoman farmers , who would later form the basis of the Free Soil movement and Republican Party (Wikipedia , United States History

Industry , meanwhile , boomed under Hamilton 's financial guidance , thanks to credit and technological innovation . Factories rose along the Eastern seaboard , especially in river towns where water power could be easily harnessed . Farmers were increasingly oriented toward producing raw materials (like hides ) for manufacturers , merging the rural and urban as never before . This included Southern plantations , which turned to cotton production after the cotton gin was invented in 1793 , making cotton processing much more efficient . In return , though , industry provided agriculture with devices that could increase productivity , such as the cotton gin , steel plows , and reapers . Though agriculture was extremely important to the American economy , it had been given subordinate political status since Hamilton and political power was firmly on industry 's side , since manufacturing and finance were more profitable and influential

Also , the industrial North , which depended on free labor , grew increasingly critical of the South 's dependence on slavery . Meanwhile pro-slavery Southerners saw the factory system as little...