Aid yeoman farmers

Definition

This term refers to the policies or actions taken by the government to support small-scale, independent farmers who owned their own land (yeoman farmers) in the early United States.

Analogy

Think of aid yeoman farmers as a school's financial aid program. Just like how a school provides scholarships and grants to help students afford tuition, the government provided various forms of assistance (like land grants) to help these small-scale farmers thrive.

Related terms

Homestead Act: A law passed in 1862 that gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years.

Jeffersonian Democracy: The political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson that advocated for agrarianism, limited government, and states' rights - all principles that supported yeoman farming.

Sharecropping: A system where tenant farmers give a part of each crop as rent. This was another form of farming prevalent during this period but unlike yeoman farming, it often led to cycles of debt and poverty.