US CITIZENSHIP TEST PREPARATION

Detailed explanation-1: -Communal grazing and long cattle drives were the norm. But with the invention of barbed wire, large cattle ranchers and their investors were able to cheaply and easily parcel off the land they wanted-whether or not it was legally theirs to contain.

Detailed explanation-2: -Shrubs and hedges, early substitutes for wood and rock fencing materials, took too long to grow to become of much use in the rapidly expanding West. Barbed wire was cheaper, easier, and quicker to use than any of these other alternatives. Without fencing, livestock grazed freely, competing for fodder and water.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1874, Glidden patented the first practical design for barbed wire. The invention dramatically reduced the costs of separating cattle from crops and thus the costs of enforcing property rights to land.

Detailed explanation-4: -Joseph Glidden’s innovative barbed wire was essential to the settlement of the American plains in the late nineteenth century. It proved to be an effective method of securely enclosing one’s property, thereby keeping cattle in and trespassers out.

Detailed explanation-5: -On October 27, 1873, a De Kalb, Illinois, farmer named Joseph Glidden submits an application to the U.S. Patent Office for his clever new design for a fencing wire with sharp barbs, an invention that will forever change the face of the American West.