Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

Indiana's journal entry for December 4, 1961, is dominated by a sketch of The American Reaping Company, here referred to as The Giant Reap #2. Indiana records that it is the last of his 4 by 5-foot canvases, and that it was conceived in one sitting and finished late that morning.