Existing comment:
Agricultural Decline
In 1830, John Randolph complained that Virginia's landscape was "worn out." Overproduction of tobacco had exhausted the soil of eastern and central Virginia. Some blamed farmers for failing to rotate crops, rest fields, and fertilize. Others faulted the absence of a system to transport and market crops. To many, the slave force was unproductive, and import tariffs benefited the northern factory owner at the expense of southern farmers. |