| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Historians investigating agriculture in the nineteenth-century America have paid not much attention to agricultural laborers. For the South, it was slavery that attracted attention, and for the North it was family form that was thought to be important. Because of their historical significance and central political role, it was natural that these two institutions commanded historians' attention. The purpose of the present research is to put focus upon the forgotten figure, agricultural laborers, and understand their role in the agricultural development of the nineteenth-century America. Historical source materials from New York State, New England, and the Middle West were collected and analyzed in the course of research. Manuscript census records show that there were considerable number of people who reported their occupation as farm laborers. Some of them were sons of farmers who would become independent farmers themselves in the future, but some were middle-aged people and foreign immigrants. Although immigrants were mainly industrial workers, it is noticeable that some were farm laborers. On the employers' side, most farms employed hired help, especially during harvest season. Without their help, it was difficult to manage farms even in the case of family farms. Agricultural laborers also worked in towns and transportation services during the slack season. This fact indicates the close economic connection between farms and towns.
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