Post-Civil War Development

After the Civil War the railways expanded into Minnesota, and the state grew rapidly. Settlers, attracted by free land provided by the Homestead Act of 1862, came from as far away as Germany and Scandinavia. Wheat became the major crop, and flour milling developed into a large-scale industry. Lumbering boomed after 1870. Iron mining began in the Vermilion Range in the 1880's and soon spread to the Mesabi and Cuyuna ranges. By 1920 Minnesota was the nation's leading iron ore producer.

Discontent among Minnesota's farmers over the high rates charged by the railways and grain elevators led to strong Minnesota support of the Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) and to the establishment of marketing cooperatives. Third-party political movements, reflecting the views of the Grange, were popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Farmer-Labor Party, founded after World War I, gained strength in the 1920's and dominated Minnesota politics during the Depression. In 1938, however, Republican Harold E. Stassen won the governorship, and his party held power for 16 years. At the urging of Hubert H. Humphrey, the Farmer-Labor party merged with the state Democratic party in 1944, and the new party—the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL)—went on to dominate Minnesota politics for many years.