meatpacking
i n d u s t r y
and the
industry, in
t u r n ,
helped the
city grow
into second
largest city
in the
country.
Troubled Times for Illinois Agriculture
Illinois farms were producing bumper crops after the Civil
War, but farmers were in trouble. They were producing more food
by using better and better methods and equipment and making less
money. Supplying food for the Union Army had created a need for
more grain (the demand raised prices), but when the war ended in
1865, the demand dropped, creating a surplus and lowering the
price. Competition from the settlers farther west hurt Illinois
farmers, too. These new farmers were shipping their grain to
Chicago, adding to the food surplus and driving prices down even
more. In addition, the powerful railroad companies kept raising
the price for Illinois farmers to ship their grain to market. This
angered farmers, who were forced to pay a price they thought was
unfair. Because railroads had a monopoly, most farmers had no
other way to get their products to distant markets.
The farmers decided to fight back by organizing into groups
to market and transport their products at a fair price. The largest of
these organizations was called the National Grange of the Patrons
of Husbandry. The local groups were called granges and the
members were called grangers. The first grange in Illinois started
in 1867. The grange members planned to compete against the
railroads and merchants who treated them unfairly by working
cooperatively. They built their own stores, grain elevators, and mills
and kept marketing costs low in order to help each other. Eventually
their cooperation led to the farmers providing support to political
candidates who supported the grange on issues that affected
stench stink; really
bad smell
bumper crop,
bumper crops
unusually large crop
surplus more than
is needed or can be
used at the time
monopoly
complete and total
control of a business,
service, or product
grange an old
word for farm
patron, patrons a
special guardian or
protector
Union Stockyards. Courtesy Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library.
“The Grange Awaken-ing
the Sleepers”
Courtesy Abraham
Lincoln Digitization,
Project Northern
Illinois University,
<http//
lincoln.lib.niu.edu>.
