Ploughing

Although this scene may seem like an example of a time-honored subject, Ploughing relates to a particular moment in this nation’s history. The year before Benton made the drawing that inspired this lithograph, the controversial Agricultural Adjustment Act was introduced. It aimed to increase crop prices by cutting back production. By the time the legislation passed, spring crops had already been planted. In order for the Act to accomplish its goal, farmers, like this one Benton saw in South Carolina, were paid to plow under 10.4 million acres of cotton.