Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper, demonstrated on a horse-drawn carriage in Walnut Grove, Virginia, automated grain harvesting and helped turn the American Midwest into a major agricultural economic engine. The hosts describe it as central to America becoming a major grain exporter, allowing large shipments of food to Europe.
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The hosts note the Irish potato famine still occurred despite this grain surplus, attributing it to British policy failures rather than an actual food shortage.
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8:30>> Yes, this was the mechanical reaper by Cyrus McCormick. It was successfully demonstrated on a horsedrawn carriage in Walnut Grove, Virginia. It automated the process of harvesting grain. And this was huge because this allowed the full economic growth of the American Midwest. It allowed America to become the bread basket of the world essentially. And it virtually stopped famine in Europe because we could ship so much grain to Europe. Now, don't get me wrong, there was still famine, for example, the Irish potato famine, but that was because of shenanigans by the British. That's not because there was actually a shortage of food. That's just because the British
9:11are, you know, they're >> the British, >> speaking as an American and uh and an American of Indian descent, let's just say that they they have a lot of shenanigans. A >> masters in the shenanigans. >> Yeah. >> Uh our first physics entry in 1832,