牧区天灾与美国"牧畜王国"的衰落

美国的第二次工业革命在内战以后迅速兴起。工业社会的勃兴和城市人口的剧增使美国原有的肉类生产远远满足不了国内外市场的需求。这种巨大的需求推动了美国西部的牧业开发。内战以后,在密西西比河以西至太平洋沿岸,牧牛业和牧羊业迅速发展起来,形成一个疆域辽阔的“牧畜王国”。西部牧区成为美国新的重要肉产品生产基地,放牧业成了当时最赚钱的行业之一。“牧畜王国”繁荣兴旺了二十余年,到1885年以后盛极而衰。在导致“牧畜王国”衰落的诸多因素中,牧区天灾是一个重要的因素。牧场主们竭草而牧的掠夺式经营更加重了牧区天灾的危害性。

Natural Disaster on the Range of the American West and the Decline of the Livestock Kingdom

The Second American Industrial Revolution rose rapidly following the Civil War. The former scale of meat production of the United States could hardly meet the demands of domestic and overseas market due to the vigorous growth of the industrial society and the sharp increase of the urban population. The cattle industry and the sheep industry expanded rapidly. The huge demands promoted the rapid development of husbandry between the west of Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast. As a result, the Livestock Kingdom was formed and its territory was vast expansive of land. The Western Range became a new and important base of meat production in the United States. As husbandry was one of the most profitable businesses at that time, the Livestock Kingdom had boomed for more than 20years. Until 1885 it had been the thriving and prosperous top but soon it declined. The fall of the Livestock Kingdom was caused by many factors. Natural disaster was an important one. However the way the ranchers exhausted the grass to graze also made the natural disaster become more perilous.