Final answer:
The mechanical reaper led to an increased agricultural output and supported industrialization but did not confer greater mobility, which was more influenced by transportation advancements.
Step-by-step explanation:
The introduction of the mechanical reaper by Cyrus McCormick was a significant development in agricultural history. It greatly increased the efficiency of harvesting crops, leading to a myriad of advantages. However, some advantages that might be attributed to the mechanical reaper, such as greater mobility for the population, were not directly a result of its adoption. Instead, the reaper mainly allowed for a vast increase in agricultural output, contributed to the process of moving production from the home to the factory, and fuelled industrialization in the century following its adoption.
The key advantages of the mechanical reaper included the ability to harvest grain much faster and more efficiently than manual methods like the scythe, supporting a transition to larger scale farming, and fostering the ability to feed growing urban populations in the East. These innovations laid the groundwork for the agricultural boom in states like Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Despite its clear benefits in efficiency and production, it did not contribute to the mobility of the populace, which is typically associated with developments in transportation rather than agriculture.