AUTHOR: JC Knowles (edited and vetted by Cheri Todd Molter)
Farming was so bad in North Carolina in 1889 that many farmers considered leaving their farms to seek their livelihoods elsewhere. The Chatham County Alliance, a local organization of the Farmers’ Alliance, felt it necessary to inform the State Legislature of just how bad it really was. The following is an excerpt from their petition to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1889:
“The failure of the crops in this county last year necessitates the buying of almost our entire supplies to make another crop, and there is very little money in the hands of the farmers. Almost every farmer is depressed; many are disheartened; labor is unremunerative; the value of land is depreciating, and there is a growing disposition to abandon the farm and seek other employment. Unless something is done to bring relief, many will be compelled to give up their farms. The boasted progress and increase of wealth in North Carolina is [sic] not shared by the farmers. They are gradually but steadily becoming poorer and poorer every year.”
Source: ncpedia.org