Collective farming

Quick Facts: Who was Collective farming?

Subject:

Collective farming

Known for:

A system of agricultural production where multiple farmers operate holdings as a joint enterprise.

Verified Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

Collective farming and communal farming are various types of agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise. Two broad types of communal farms exist: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-owners jointly engage in farming activities as a collective; and state farms, which are owned and directly run by a centralized government. The process by which farmland is aggregated is called collectivization. Under the Aztec Empire, central Mexico was divided into small territories called calpulli, which were units of local administration concerned with farming as well as education and religion. A calpulli consisted of a number of large extended families with a presumed common ancestor, themselves each composed of a number of nuclear families.

Career & Major Achievements

Each calpulli owned the land and granted the individual families the right to farm parts of it each day. When the Spanish conquered Mexico they replaced this with a system of estates granted by the Spanish crown to Spanish colonists, as well as the encomienda, a feudal-like right of overlordship colonists were given in particular villages, and the repartimiento or system of indigenous forced labor. Following the Mexican Revolution, a new constitution in 1917 abolished any remnant of feudal-like rights hacienda owners had over common lands and offered the development of ejidos: communal farms formed on land purchased from the large estates by the Mexican government. The Wendat had an essentially communal system of land ownership. The French Catholic missionary Gabriel Sagard described the fundamentals, noting the Wendat had "as much land as they need[ed]." As a result, the Wendat system could give families their own land and still have a large amount of excess land owned communally.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Any Wendat was free to clear the land and farm on the basis of usufruct. They maintained possession of the land as long as they continued to actively cultivate and tend the fields. Once they abandoned the land, it reverted to communal ownership, and anyone could take it up for themselves. While the Wendat did seem to have lands designated for the individual, the significance of this possession may be of little relevance; the placement of corn storage vessels in longhouses, which contained multiple families in one kinship group, suggests the occupants of a given longhouse held all production in common. The Haudenosaunee had a similar communal system of land distribution.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1917: 1917 Milestone — Following the Mexican Revolution, a new constitution in 1917 abolished any remnant of feudal-like rights hacienda owners had over common lands and offered the development of ejidos: communal farms formed on land purchased from the large estates by the Mexican government.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Collective farming

True or False: “The initial communal land ownership structure in the Aztec Empire was called the 'calpulli'.”

Answer (TRUE ⭕): The calpulli were local administrative units concerned with farming, education, and religion within the Aztec Empire.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Collective farming