Sowing the American Dream

David Blanke's Sowing the American Dream is a carefully researched analysis of the origins of the “consumer culture” in the rural Midwest. Blanke has contributed to our understanding of the emergence of capitalism by focusing on the rural consumers who drove the economy during the nineteenth century. The book actually has two major parts. The first focuses on the development of a “rural commercial ethos” during a period of extraordinary economic growth. This ethos was predicated on a drive for material success, but it was also rooted in a communal sensibility expressed through activities such as agricultural fairs. The second part centers on the difficulties that midwestern farmers faced following the Civil War. These included economic deflation, rising debt, and changes in both consumer tastes and marketing strategies. Their attempt to deal with these problems was also rooted in community action but pursued through organizations such as the Grange. The first half of the nineteenth century truly was a golden age of commercial agriculture. During this period the prices of agricultural commodities generally rose as a result of rapid urbanization. At the same time the prices of factory-made products plummeted. Midwestern commercial farmers of this era, therefore, were in an extraordinary position: their disposable income grew while the prices of consumer goods declined. This strengthened their consumer ethos and also reinforced the market economy that was transforming America

Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Capitalism · Debt · Dream · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Ethos · Political science · American Environmental and Regional History · American History and Culture · History · Law