American Agrarianism

American agrarianism is at once an inheritance and transformation of different European versions of the idea. In early America, two versions—the Southern aristocratic and Jeffersonian agrarianism—stood prominent. As a result of the development of the egalitarian and democratic ethos in America, the first version gradually died out as a major strain in American thought, though some traces of it still lingered on. The second version, by contrast, took deep roots and became an enduring ideal and an influential political tradition in America. In the subsequent process of transformation, agrarianism was accommodated and adjusted, revealing itself in different forms at various times. To a great extent, a probe into agrarianism is not a matter of investigating the agricultural life of America, but rather a matter of comprehending the ideals and values America has stood for throughout its national experience. This dissertation is intended to be an endeavor to examine the importance of agrarianism in different periods in American history, analyzing its role in formulating ideals and policies in pre-industrial, industrial and, post-industrial society, paying particular attention to its impact on the shaping of the American psyche.Although agrarianism as an idea or ideal has been central to American experience and American thought, studies on it in China, up till now, have been few in number and narrow in scope. In America, by contrast, scholars have piled up a huge amount of scholarship on this particular topic. However, impressive as they are, most of agrarianism studies tend to focus on one aspect of it, either examining it as embodied in literature, or discussing it as reflected in Populism and agricultural policies, or considering it as expressed in environmental concerns. Indeed, few serious efforts have been made to take a holistic approach to understand and interpret American agrarianism in its entirety, though scattered attempts have been made in this direction.The present study tries to address this inadequacy by taking a multiple approach to the study of agrarianism, examining it from various dimensions, including its philosophical origins, local adaptation in the new environment, variations over time in the course of the nation's development, expressions in literary works, its critiques of American culture, manifestations in government policies, and finally its revival and reformulation out of ecological concerns. Such an approach may run the risk of diffusing or fragmenting the issue in different directions. But considering the fact that agrarianism in America has been a complex issue with great significance, and more importantly, since American agrarianism has manifested itself throughout U.S. history in various forms and shapes, such a holistic approach is not only necessary, but also worthwhile, if we want to gain a comprehensive insight into it. In short, American agrarianism cannot be fully comprehended without a serious undertaking of such a scale and scope.To this end, this dissertation first explores the European origins of agrarianism and its transformation in early America in ChapterⅠ, concluding that agrarianism manifested itself in subsequent American history mainly in two variations—rational and romantic agrarianism, and then evolved into ecological agrarianism. ChapterⅡand ChapterⅢexamine rational agrarianism, with one focusing on the manifestation of this variant in American land policy throughout its history, and the other on its role in 19th century Populism and the agricultural policy since the 20th century. ChapterⅣfirst discusses romantic agrarianism in American literature, and then moves on to look into ecological agrarianism as it is making efforts to revive and reformulate the agrarian tradition to strike a balance between the agrarian dream and the social reality.Based on this multi-dimensional study, this dissertation argues that American agrarianism is deeply embedded in its historical experience, expressing, in its own way, American people's long-cherished dream. Many of the ideals embodied in agrarianism are part and parcel of the core values of Americans, such as democracy, individualism, pragmatism, and moral integrity. It is exactly on the strength of these long-held values that American agrarianism, even under the overwhelming influence of industrialism, has managed to maintain its vigor and vitality. Throughout America history, it has played a significant role in shaping not only American policy and law, but American ideal, thought, and values as well. Indeed, as an issue that has a great bearing on both economic policy and the fundamental principles of the nation, agrarianism constitutes a crucial, if not the most important, part in our effort to understand America as a civilization.