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	Cyrus McCormick and his company insisted he be credited as the single inventor of the ]. He was, however, one of several designing engineers who produced working models in the 1830s. His efforts built on more than two decades of work by his father ], with the aid of Jo Anderson, an enslaved African-American man held by the family.<ref>{{cite news \|title=Jo Anderson \|url=http://www.richmond.com/special-section/black-history/article_277b0072-700a-11e2-bb3d-001a4bcf6878.html \|access-date=22 April 2015 \|newspaper=] \|date=5 February 2013}}</ref> He also successfully developed a modern company, with manufacturing, marketing, and a sales force to market his products.<ref name="McCormick_1931">{{McCormick1931}}</ref>		Cyrus McCormick and his company insisted he be credited as the single inventor of the ]. He was, however, one of several designing engineers who produced working models in the 1830s. His efforts built on more than two decades of work by his father ], with the aid of Jo Anderson, an enslaved African-American man held by the family.<ref>{{cite news \|title=Jo Anderson \|url=http://www.richmond.com/special-section/black-history/article_277b0072-700a-11e2-bb3d-001a4bcf6878.html \|access-date=22 April 2015 \|newspaper=] \|date=5 February 2013}}</ref> He also successfully developed a modern company, with manufacturing, marketing, and a sales force to market his products.<ref name="McCormick_1931">{{McCormick1931}}</ref>

			] reaper. For a 20 minute film that gives the reaper story see ]]
			{{Further\|Reaper#Mechanical reaping}}

			The 19th century saw several inventors in the United States claim innovation in mechanical reapers. The various designs competed with each other, and were the subject of several lawsuits.<ref name="McCormick_1931">{{Harvnb\|McCormick\|1931}}.</ref>

			] in Ohio patented a reaper in 1833, the ''Hussey Reaper''.<ref name="cheap">{{cite book \|editor=Follet L. Greeno \| year=1912 \| title=Obed Hussey: Who, of All Inventors, Made Bread Cheap \|url= http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19547 }}</ref> Made in ], Hussey's design was a major improvement in reaping efficiency. The new reaper only required two ]s working in a non-strenuous manner, a man to work the machine, and another person to drive. In addition, the Hussey Reaper left an even and clean surface after its use.<ref>{{cite journal \|last=Colman\|first=Gould P. \|title= Innovation and Diffusion in Agriculture \|journal=Agricultural History \|volume=42 \|date=July 1968\|pages=173–188}}</ref>

			The ''McCormick Reaper'' was designed by ] in ], ]. However, Robert became frustrated when he was unable to perfect his new device. His son Cyrus asked for permission to try to complete his father's project. With permission granted,<ref>{{cite book \| first=Jeffrey\| last=Bowman\| author-link=Jeffrey Bowman\| year=2006\| title=Cyrus Hall McCormick }}</ref> the McCormick Reaper was patented<ref>{{US patent\|X8277}} ''Improvement in Machines for Reaping Small Grain'': Cyrus H. McCormick, June 21, 1834</ref> by his son ] in 1834 as a horse-drawn farm implement to cut small ] crops.<ref name="Forbes27">{{cite book\|first=Gross\|last=Daniel\|date=August 1997\|title=Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time\|edition=First\|publisher=John Wiley & Sons \|location=New York \|page=\|isbn=978-0-471-19653-2\|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/27}}</ref> This McCormick reaper machine had several special elements:

			* a main wheel frame
			* projected to the side a platform containing a cutter bar having fingers through which reciprocated a knife driven by a crank
			* upon the outer end of the platform was a divider projecting ahead of the platform to separate the grain to be cut from that to be left standing
			* a reel was positioned above the platform to hold the grain against the reciprocating knife to throw it back upon the platform
			* the machine was drawn by a team walking at the side of the grain.<ref>{{cite journal \|title= Agricultural Machinery in the 1800s \|journal= ] \|volume= 75 \|issue= 4 \|pages= 74–76 \|date=July 25, 1896 \|doi= 10.1038/scientificamerican07251896-74 }}</ref>
			Cyrus McCormick claimed that his reaper was actually invented in 1831, giving him the true claim to the general design of the machine. Over the next few decades the Hussey and McCormick reapers would compete with each other in the marketplace, despite being quite similar. By the 1850s, the original patents of both Hussey and McCormick had expired and many other manufacturers put similar machines on the market.<ref>Canine, Craig. ''Dream Reaper: The Story of an Old-Fashioned Inventor in the High-Tech, High-Stakes World of Modern Agriculture.'' New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Pages 29-45.</ref>

			In 1861, the ] issued a ruling on the invention of the polarizing reaper design. It was determined that the money made from reapers was in large part due to Obed Hussey. S. T. Shubert, the acting commissioner of patents, declared that Hussey's improvements were the foundation of their success. It was ruled that the heirs of Obed Hussey would be monetarily compensated for his hard work and innovation by those who had made money from the reaper. It was also ruled that McCormick's reaper patent would be renewed for another seven years.<ref name="cheap"/>

			Although the McCormick reaper was a revolutionary innovation for the harvesting of crops, it did not experience mainstream success and acceptance until at least 20 years after it was patented by Cyrus McCormick. This was because the McCormick reaper lacked a quality unique to Obed Hussey's reaper. Hussey's reaper used a sawlike cutter bar that cut stalks far more effectively than McCormick's. Only once Cyrus McCormick was able to acquire the rights to Hussey's cutter-bar mechanism (around 1850) did a truly revolutionary machine emerge.<ref>{{cite journal \|last=Olmstead\|first=Alan L. \|title=The Mechanization of Reaping and Mowing in American Agriculture \|journal=The Journal of Economic History \|volume=35 \|issue=2 \|date=June 1975\|page=327 \|doi=10.1017/s0022050700075082\|s2cid=154366322 }}</ref> Other factors in the gradual uptake of mechanized reaping included natural cultural conservatism among farmers (proven tradition versus new and unknown machinery); the poor state of many new farm fields, which were often littered with rocks, stumps, and areas of uneven soil, making the lifespan and operability of a reaping machine questionable; and some amount of fearful ] among farmers that the machine would take away jobs, most especially among hired ]ers.<ref name="PrippsMorland1993p17">{{Citation \|last1=Pripps \|first1=Robert N. \|last2=Morland \|first2=Andrew (photographer) \|year=1993 \|title=Farmall Tractors: History of International McCormick-Deering Farmall Tractors \|series=Farm Tractor Color History Series \|publisher=MBI \|location=Osceola, WI, USA \|isbn=978-0-87938-763-1 \|page=17}}</ref>

			Another strong competitor in the industry was the Manny Reaper by ] and the companies that succeeded him. Even though McCormick has sometimes been simplistically credited as the "inventor" of the ], a more accurate statement is that he independently reinvented aspects of it, created a crucial original integration of enough aspects to make a successful whole, and benefited from the influence of more than two decades of work by his father, as well as the aid of Jo Anderson, a slave held by his family.<ref>{{cite news\|title=Jo Anderson\|url=http://www.richmond.com/special-section/black-history/article_277b0072-700a-11e2-bb3d-001a4bcf6878.html\|access-date=22 April 2015\|newspaper=]\|date=5 February 2013}}</ref>

	==See also==		==See also==

Revision as of 19:51, 5 January 2025

The McCormick reaper was a famous agricultural implement that sharply improved farm productivity in the 19th century. Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809 – 1884) was the American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902.

Invention of the reaper

Cyrus McCormick and his company insisted he be credited as the single inventor of the mechanical reaper. He was, however, one of several designing engineers who produced working models in the 1830s. His efforts built on more than two decades of work by his father Robert McCormick Jr., with the aid of Jo Anderson, an enslaved African-American man held by the family. He also successfully developed a modern company, with manufacturing, marketing, and a sales force to market his products.

Further information: Reaper § Mechanical reaping

The 19th century saw several inventors in the United States claim innovation in mechanical reapers. The various designs competed with each other, and were the subject of several lawsuits.

Obed Hussey in Ohio patented a reaper in 1833, the Hussey Reaper. Made in Baltimore, Maryland, Hussey's design was a major improvement in reaping efficiency. The new reaper only required two horses working in a non-strenuous manner, a man to work the machine, and another person to drive. In addition, the Hussey Reaper left an even and clean surface after its use.

The McCormick Reaper was designed by Robert McCormick in Walnut Grove, Virginia. However, Robert became frustrated when he was unable to perfect his new device. His son Cyrus asked for permission to try to complete his father's project. With permission granted, the McCormick Reaper was patented by his son Cyrus McCormick in 1834 as a horse-drawn farm implement to cut small grain crops. This McCormick reaper machine had several special elements:

a main wheel frame
projected to the side a platform containing a cutter bar having fingers through which reciprocated a knife driven by a crank
upon the outer end of the platform was a divider projecting ahead of the platform to separate the grain to be cut from that to be left standing
a reel was positioned above the platform to hold the grain against the reciprocating knife to throw it back upon the platform
the machine was drawn by a team walking at the side of the grain.

Cyrus McCormick claimed that his reaper was actually invented in 1831, giving him the true claim to the general design of the machine. Over the next few decades the Hussey and McCormick reapers would compete with each other in the marketplace, despite being quite similar. By the 1850s, the original patents of both Hussey and McCormick had expired and many other manufacturers put similar machines on the market.

In 1861, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a ruling on the invention of the polarizing reaper design. It was determined that the money made from reapers was in large part due to Obed Hussey. S. T. Shubert, the acting commissioner of patents, declared that Hussey's improvements were the foundation of their success. It was ruled that the heirs of Obed Hussey would be monetarily compensated for his hard work and innovation by those who had made money from the reaper. It was also ruled that McCormick's reaper patent would be renewed for another seven years.

Although the McCormick reaper was a revolutionary innovation for the harvesting of crops, it did not experience mainstream success and acceptance until at least 20 years after it was patented by Cyrus McCormick. This was because the McCormick reaper lacked a quality unique to Obed Hussey's reaper. Hussey's reaper used a sawlike cutter bar that cut stalks far more effectively than McCormick's. Only once Cyrus McCormick was able to acquire the rights to Hussey's cutter-bar mechanism (around 1850) did a truly revolutionary machine emerge. Other factors in the gradual uptake of mechanized reaping included natural cultural conservatism among farmers (proven tradition versus new and unknown machinery); the poor state of many new farm fields, which were often littered with rocks, stumps, and areas of uneven soil, making the lifespan and operability of a reaping machine questionable; and some amount of fearful Luddism among farmers that the machine would take away jobs, most especially among hired manual labourers.

Another strong competitor in the industry was the Manny Reaper by John Henry Manny and the companies that succeeded him. Even though McCormick has sometimes been simplistically credited as the "inventor" of the mechanical reaper, a more accurate statement is that he independently reinvented aspects of it, created a crucial original integration of enough aspects to make a successful whole, and benefited from the influence of more than two decades of work by his father, as well as the aid of Jo Anderson, a slave held by his family.

Notes

"Cyrus Hall McCormick". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 5, 2007.
"Jo Anderson". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
^ McCormick, Cyrus Hall III (1931), The Century of the Reaper, Houghton Mifflin, LCCN 31009940, OCLC 559717. Cite error: The named reference "McCormick_1931" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Follet L. Greeno, ed. (1912). Obed Hussey: Who, of All Inventors, Made Bread Cheap.
Colman, Gould P. (July 1968). "Innovation and Diffusion in Agriculture". Agricultural History. 42: 173–188.
Bowman, Jeffrey (2006). Cyrus Hall McCormick.
U.S. patent X8277 Improvement in Machines for Reaping Small Grain: Cyrus H. McCormick, June 21, 1834
Daniel, Gross (August 1997). Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time (First ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-471-19653-2.
"Agricultural Machinery in the 1800s". Scientific American. 75 (4): 74–76. July 25, 1896. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican07251896-74.
Canine, Craig. Dream Reaper: The Story of an Old-Fashioned Inventor in the High-Tech, High-Stakes World of Modern Agriculture. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Pages 29-45.
Olmstead, Alan L. (June 1975). "The Mechanization of Reaping and Mowing in American Agriculture". The Journal of Economic History. 35 (2): 327. doi:10.1017/s0022050700075082. S2CID 154366322.
Pripps, Robert N.; Morland, Andrew (photographer) (1993), Farmall Tractors: History of International McCormick-Deering Farmall Tractors, Farm Tractor Color History Series, Osceola, WI, USA: MBI, p. 17, ISBN 978-0-87938-763-1
"Jo Anderson". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

v t e International Harvester
Subsidiaries	Deering Harvester Company
People	Charles Deering James Deering William Deering Cyrus McCormick Leander J. McCormick Benjamin H. Warder
Products	Case IH axial-flow combines Farmall International Harvester International Harvester 600 International Harvester 650 International Harvester 660 International Harvester 1066 International Harvester Auto-Buggy International Harvester Travelall International Harvester Travelette McCormick-Deering W series M5 tractor M425 and 426 tractor truck International Harvester Payhauler
Former subsidiaries	DAF (33%) Seddon Atkinson
Related articles	Furthur bus List of International Harvester/Navistar engines List of International Harvester vehicles International Harvester Company Warehouse International Harvester strike of 1979–80 McCormick-International Harvester Company Branch House

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