Description
In 1890, two events indicated the changing nature of American life. For the first time, the value of manufactured goods was greater than the value of agricultural goods produced that year. And following the 1890 census, the Census Bureau declared the frontier closed since no "empty" lands remained to be settled. Thirty years later, the 1920 census showed that more Americans lived in urban areas than in rural areas. In this moment, when industrial urban life was overtaking rural agricultural life, President Theodore Roosevelt created the Commission on Country Life to investigate rural life and to make recommendations for improving it. In this excerpt from Roosevelt's introduction to the Commission's report, Roosevelt identified some of the benefits and weaknesses of rural life.
Source-Dependent Questions
- What had the Commission found about country life in comparison to earlier time periods?
- What did President Theodore Roosevelt think of farmers and country life? Provide evidence from the text.
- What problems did Roosevelt identify about country life? Identify at least three.
- Roosevelt stated, "One of the chief difficulties is the failure of country life, as it exists at present, to satisfy the higher social and intellectual aspirations of country people." What is Roosevelt implying about farm people in this quote? Which of the images in this text set might support that position? Explain your reasoning using evidence.
Citation Information
"Special Message from the President of the United States Transmitting the Report of the Country Life Commission," Report of the Country Life Commission, pp. 3-9, 1909. Courtesy of the Farm Credit Administration