Cyrus McCormick
Nicholas Gutierrez and Taddie Cook
Description
Before the McCormick reaper, the only tool farmers had to reap grain was a handheld scythe. The amount of grain a farmer could reap before it went bad determined how much the farmer would plant and the amount of profit a farmer could make. Robert McCormick worked for 20 years designing a mechanical tool to shorten the amount of time it took to reap grain. His son Cyrus McCormick took over and had a working reaper by 1831, and a patent by 1834. He relocated from Virginia to Chicago in 1847 to take advantage of Chicago’s proximity to grain fields and potential for water and rail transport. He used mass production, as well as creating the system of traveling salesmen who worked on commision. McCormick was able to sell reapers through offering farmers credit to purchase the reapers, guaranteeing the performance with a warranties, and advertising through demonstrations and testimonials. In 1851 he was elected to the French academy of sciences for “having done more for agriculture than any other man”. McCormick was able to raise the fortune of farmers and build up Chicago as the greatest grain port in the United States.
Cyrus McCormick
The McCormick Reaper
Advertisement for the McCormick Reaper
Significance
Works Cited
"Cyrus McCormick." Chicago: City of the Century. PBS, 2003. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
"McCormick, Cyrus Hall." American National Biography Online. American National Biography Online, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
McCormick Reaper. Digital image. Antique Farming. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.