Mechanical Reaper

The Mechanical Reaper was created by Cyrus McCormick in 1831 and was the first of its kind. Cyrus McCormick's father had invented several machines to advance farming but had failed at his attempt to create a successful reaping machine. When he failed McCormick built his first working prototype in a small workshop. The design was based on a cutting blade like the ones used in scythes and on a machine that was pulled by horses. Then in 1834 McCormick applied for and received a patent for his design but had many challenges especially from other inventors who claimed to create similar machines before. He created the mechanical reaper on his family's farm in Green Brier County, Virginia(now part of West Virginia). As McCormick continued to refine and improve the Mechanical Reaper, he applied for patents for specific improvements such as the self raking feature and the mechanical binder. He had to improve the reaper because the foundry failed in the wake of the bank panic of 1837, when he improved it he started to sell more Mechanical Reapers every year.

The Mechanical Reaper had a huge impact on the North and South, but in different ways. In the North the reaper helped farmers harvest crops faster and more efficiently. This made it to where there was less labor needed for farming and allowed them to grow more crops. When this happened more people in Europe immigrated to the North, hoping to find work and land. The reaper also helped factories grow, as machines were needed to make the reaper, which created more jobs in cities. This led to the growth of urban areas and the start of more industrial jobs in the North. 

In the South, the impact of the Mechanical Reaper was different. Since the south relied heavily on enslaved people to work on farms, the reaper didn't change the need for slavery. In fact, because farming became more efficient, plantation owners could grow even more crops, especially cotton, which means they needed more enslaved labor. The reaper helped make the plantation more profitable but did not encourage people to move to the South the way it did in the North. Instead of changing how people worked, the reaper made the South's economy stronger, keeping slavery deeply rooted in the region.