fcmv 1850s

BACKGROUND

By the 1850s, the Valley of Virginia was integrated into an expanding national market for agricultural and manufactured products. An
improved road network was supplemented by water and rail transport, permitting Valley farmers and manufacturers to easily ship their
products to eastern cities. In return, manufactured goods from Europe and other parts of the United States became available to Valley
consumers, and Valley residents no longer had to make their own textiles and other necessities. Mass communication, in the form of
newspapers and books, made Valley residents more aware of events and ideas from the outside world. In this environment, distinctions
among the descendants of Old World settlers declined, and most embraced a common American culture and heritage.

PEOPLE

Farming was still the primary occupation in the Valley, but most farmers were concerned with growing wheat and tobacco to meet the
demands of external markets. Industry and craft activities also continued, but these concerns remained small and were now faced with
growing competition from imported goods. Ethnic traditions were declining; the publication of books and newspapers in the German
language had virtually ceased, and many residents turned away from the Lutheran, Reformed, and Presbyterian faiths of their immigrant
ancestors in favor of Methodist and Baptists revivalists following the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s. Slavery was a
significant fact of life in the Valley at mid-century. In 1850, over 23 percent of the Valley's population were African-American, 87
percent of whom were slaves. The slight growth of the free black population represented a slow change in attitudes toward slavery, but
most whites in the Valley continued to support it.

FARMING PRACTICES

Mixed farming, with a focus on wheat and livestock, continued to dominate Valley agriculture. The James River Canal reached Botetourt
and Rockbridge counties in the early 1850s, and many farmers in the upper Valley turned to growing tobacco which could be marketed
in Lynchburg and Richmond. Advances in agriculture came in the form of machinery and improved agricultural methods. After 1830,
new mechanical implements came into use, including cast-iron and steel plows, seed drills, and threshing machines. Farmers also
improved their crop yields by heeding the advice of the agricultural reform movement found in newspapers and agricultural journals.
The movement promoted deep plowing, various crop rotation schemes, and the amendment of soils with plaster, lime or guano. By the
1850s, local agricultural societies sponsored agricultural fairs and circulated technical information on these new farming techniques to
farmers.

LIFE IN THE 1850s AMERICAN FARMHOUSE

New technology and the greater availability of imported goods resulted in some changes in household furnishings. More homes,
regardless of ethnicity, featured cast iron stoves, both for heating and cooking. Cook stoves, in particular, were an important
labor-saving device much appreciated by housewives. Inexpensive mantle clocks and "fancy" chairs imported from New England
graced the home of those of even modest means. Many housewives began to discover canned foods and other processed,
pre-packaged groceries, medicines, and personal grooming products on the shelves of local stores.

Nevertheless, many rural farmers, whether by choice or financial circumstance, lived a traditional lifestyle that was little changed from the
early 1800s. Many homes were similar to the one or two room log cabins of the frontier era, but larger with additional stories or rooms
added. Some housewives continued cooking over an open fire in the hearth. Little income was expended on furniture and furnishing
other than necessities; what money they accrued went to purchase more land that could be passed on to the next generation, improved
barn and outbuildings, livestock, and farm implements.

MIGRATION

By the 1840s, American pioneers were venturing ever-deeper into the Trans-Mississippi West. The settlement of Texas began as early as
1822, when it was still a Mexican province, and many of the early founders and leaders of Texas were Virginians. After Texas, the next
important destinations were Oregon and California, particularly after gold was discovered in California in 1849.