An Agrarian Republic

Farming, Antislavery Politics, and Nature Parks in the Civil War Era

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Nature, Environment, Ecology, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
Cover of the book An Agrarian Republic by Adam Wesley Dean, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Adam Wesley Dean ISBN: 9781469619927
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: February 16, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Adam Wesley Dean
ISBN: 9781469619927
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: February 16, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

The familiar story of the Civil War tells of a predominately agricultural South pitted against a rapidly industrializing North. However, Adam Wesley Dean argues that the Republican Party's political ideology was fundamentally agrarian. Believing that small farms owned by families for generations led to a model society, Republicans supported a northern agricultural ideal in opposition to southern plantation agriculture, which destroyed the land's productivity, required constant western expansion, and produced an elite landed gentry hostile to the Union. Dean shows how agrarian republicanism shaped the debate over slavery's expansion, spurred the creation of the Department of Agriculture and the passage of the Homestead Act, and laid the foundation for the development of the earliest nature parks.

Spanning the long nineteenth century, Dean's study analyzes the changing debate over land development as it transitioned from focusing on the creation of a virtuous and orderly citizenry to being seen primarily as a "civilizing" mission. By showing Republicans as men and women with backgrounds in small farming, Dean unveils new connections between seemingly separate historical events, linking this era's views of natural and manmade environments with interpretations of slavery and land policy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The familiar story of the Civil War tells of a predominately agricultural South pitted against a rapidly industrializing North. However, Adam Wesley Dean argues that the Republican Party's political ideology was fundamentally agrarian. Believing that small farms owned by families for generations led to a model society, Republicans supported a northern agricultural ideal in opposition to southern plantation agriculture, which destroyed the land's productivity, required constant western expansion, and produced an elite landed gentry hostile to the Union. Dean shows how agrarian republicanism shaped the debate over slavery's expansion, spurred the creation of the Department of Agriculture and the passage of the Homestead Act, and laid the foundation for the development of the earliest nature parks.

Spanning the long nineteenth century, Dean's study analyzes the changing debate over land development as it transitioned from focusing on the creation of a virtuous and orderly citizenry to being seen primarily as a "civilizing" mission. By showing Republicans as men and women with backgrounds in small farming, Dean unveils new connections between seemingly separate historical events, linking this era's views of natural and manmade environments with interpretations of slavery and land policy.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Freedom's Frontier by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book The Claims of Kinfolk by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Prelude to Nuremberg by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Ambiguous Discourse by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Say We Are Nations by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Practical Liberators by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Blessed with Tourists by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Turned Inside Out: Black, White, and Irish in the South by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Bad Girls by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book White Ethnic New York by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book The Mexican Press and Civil Society, 1940–1976 by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Blue and Gray Diplomacy by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Learn to Cook 25 Southern Classics 3 Ways by Adam Wesley Dean
Cover of the book Making the World Safe for Democracy by Adam Wesley Dean
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy