Description

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Indiana's pioneers came to southern Indiana to turn the dream of an America based on family farming into a reality. The golden age prior to the Civil War led to a post-War preserving of the independent family farmer. Salstrom examines this "independence" and finds the label to be less than adequate. Hoosier farming was an inter-dependent activity leading to a society of borrowing and loaning. When people talk about supporting family farming, as Salstrom notes, the issue is a societal one with a greater population involved than just the farmers themselves.

About the Author

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Paul Salstrom holds a Ph.D. in comparative history from Brandeis University and teaches history at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College near Terre Haute, Indiana. An authority on the early rural history of Appalachia, he is the author of Appalachia's Path to Dependency (1994).