Changes

The AAA head was Chester Davis, an "agrarian" who belonged to the more  "conservative" faction that deeply distrusted the leftists as un-American. The agrarians issued the rule that (in cotton) a landowner had to keep the ''same number'' of croppers. The red position was the landowner had to keep the same number ''and the same people'' as croppers. The radical solution would have the effect of locking the croppers to a piece of land--something like serfdom did in old regime Europe. The radicals wanted that so they could eventually build a stable base of voters among the croppers (who otherwise moved so often they seldom could be mobilized.)

The AAA head was Chester Davis, an "agrarian" who belonged to the more  "conservative" faction that deeply distrusted the leftists as un-American. The agrarians issued the rule that (in cotton) a landowner had to keep the ''same number'' of croppers. The red position was the landowner had to keep the same number ''and the same people'' as croppers. The radical solution would have the effect of locking the croppers to a piece of land--something like serfdom did in old regime Europe. The radicals wanted that so they could eventually build a stable base of voters among the croppers (who otherwise moved so often they seldom could be mobilized.)

One day in early 1935 Davis was on a trip and the legal office got the acting head to send out a ruling (written by Hiss) that froze tenant farmers on the land they rented. Davis was outraged as were southern farm owners, the Farm Bureau (the main national organization of farmers) and nearly all politicians. Davis got approval from Wallace and in Feb. 1935 fired the main leaders.  The leftists appealed to Wallace and FDR but they approved the purge and the urban liberals lost their voice in the AAA.<ref> Lawrence J. Nelson, "The Art of the Possible: Another Look at the 'Purge' of the AAA Liberals in 1935.' ''Agricultural History'' 1983 57(4): 416-435. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3742633 in JSTOR]</ref>

One day in early 1935 Davis was on a trip and the legal office got the acting head to send out a ruling (written by Hiss) that froze tenant farmers on the land they rented. Davis was outraged as were southern farm owners, the [[Farm Bureau]] (the main national organization of farmers) and nearly all politicians. Davis got approval from Wallace and in Feb. 1935 fired the main leaders.  The leftists appealed to Wallace and FDR but they approved the purge and the urban liberals lost their voice in the AAA.<ref> Lawrence J. Nelson, "The Art of the Possible: Another Look at the 'Purge' of the AAA Liberals in 1935.' ''Agricultural History'' 1983 57(4): 416-435. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3742633 in JSTOR]</ref>

The radical plan failed in the AAA because of the 1935 purge, but then [[Rex Tugwell]], forced out of the AAA, and other leftists tried to mobilize the sharecroppers and tenants through two new agencies, the "Resettlement Administration" (RA) and the "[[Farm Security Administration]]" (FSA). Their efforts failed because the tenants wanted money to buy land and become landowners and the reds saw that meant losing the proletariat. During World War II most of the sharecroppers and tenants (white and black) left farming and moved to town for much better paying jobs.

The radical plan failed in the AAA because of the 1935 purge, but then [[Rex Tugwell]], forced out of the AAA, and other leftists tried to mobilize the sharecroppers and tenants through two new agencies, the "Resettlement Administration" (RA) and the "[[Farm Security Administration]]" (FSA). Their efforts failed because the tenants wanted money to buy land and become landowners and the reds saw that meant losing the proletariat. During World War II most of the sharecroppers and tenants (white and black) left farming and moved to town for much better paying jobs.

* Schultz, Theodore W. '' Agriculture in an Unstable Economy.'' (1945) by Nobel-prize winning conservative [http://www.questia.com/read/9105343?title=Agriculture%20in%20an%20Unstable%20Economy online edition]  

* Schultz, Theodore W. '' Agriculture in an Unstable Economy.'' (1945) by Nobel-prize winning conservative [http://www.questia.com/read/9105343?title=Agriculture%20in%20an%20Unstable%20Economy online edition]  

* Wilcox, Walter W. ''The farmer in the second world war'' (1947) [http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=chla;idno=2944025 online edition]

* Wilcox, Walter W. ''The farmer in the second world war'' (1947) [http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=chla;idno=2944025 online edition]

 

==References==

==References==

[[Category:Agriculture]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]

[[Category:Economic history]]

[[Category:Economic history]]