Kentucky Settlers Economic Choices
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Kentucky Settlers Economic Choices
A historical snapshot
In the late 1700s, families moved west from places such as Virginia and North Carolina to settle in what is now Kentucky. Some hoped to find fertile farmland, start a new life, or earn money by selling crops. The journey could be difficult, and a new farm took work to establish. A farmer had to make choices because land, tools, time, and labor were limited. Corn could feed a family and livestock. Tobacco could be sold for money, but growing more tobacco meant using land and labor that could have gone to other crops. Choosing one option meant giving up some of another: that next-best option is called the opportunity cost. Tobacco farming connected Kentucky farms to buyers and trade beyond the region. In this period, tobacco production also depended heavily on the forced labor of enslaved people. Enslaved people were denied freedom and were not fairly paid; slavery was a violent injustice, not simply a business choice.
Make the best economic choice
Imagine a family has a small amount of cleared land and limited workers. They are deciding how to use their farm resources.
- It could be sold to earn money.
- It always grew without work.
- It was the only crop that could grow in Kentucky.
- It gave the family more land.
- Grow only tobacco, even if the family has no corn.
- Grow some corn and some tobacco, if the land and labor allow.
- Leave all the land unused.
- Plant more crops than the family has land or workers to manage.
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