Changes

The term favored in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] and [[Jacksonian Democracy]] was "yeoman", which emphasized an independent political spirit and economic self-reliance. [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[John Taylor of Caroline]] in particular praised the yeomen as the carriers of America's [[Republicanism|Republican values]]. Jefferson warned that virtue could not long survive in the cities (or among dependent tenant farmers or slaves) because these people would be controlled or corrupted by others and lose their independence.[[File:Yeoman.jpg|thumb|300px|romantic image of hard-working, prosperous, independent yeoman farmer; from 1873 Grange poster]]

The term favored in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] and [[Jacksonian Democracy]] was "yeoman", which emphasized an independent political spirit and economic self-reliance. [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[John Taylor of Caroline]] in particular praised the yeomen as the carriers of America's [[Republicanism|Republican values]]. Jefferson warned that virtue could not long survive in the cities (or among dependent tenant farmers or slaves) because these people would be controlled or corrupted by others and lose their independence.[[File:Yeoman.jpg|thumb|300px|romantic image of hard-working, prosperous, independent yeoman farmer; from 1873 Grange poster]]

Historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] traced the yeoman ideal in America's sentimental attachment to the rural way of life, which is 'a kind of homage that Americans have paid to the fancied innocence of their origins. To call it a 'myth' is not to imply that the idea is simply false. Rather the 'myth' so effectively embodies people's values that it profoundly influences their ways of perceiving values and hence their behavior. He stresses the significance of the writings of Jefferson and his followers in the development of agricultural fundamentalism.  Hofstadter emphasized the importance of the agrarian myth in American politics and life even after industrialization had revolutionized the American economy and life.  Indeed American farmers into the 21st century identified themselves as yeomen with a superior claim to republican values., and looked down at the "corruption" they sensed in the nation's cities.<ref>Richard Hofstadter, ''The Age of Reform'' (1955).</ref>

Historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] traced the yeoman ideal in America's sentimental attachment to the rural way of life, which is 'a kind of homage that Americans have paid to the fancied innocence of their origins. To call it a 'myth' is not to imply that the idea is simply false. Rather the 'myth' so effectively embodies people's values that it profoundly influences their ways of perceiving values and hence their behavior. He stresses the significance of the writings of Jefferson and his followers in the development of agricultural fundamentalism.  Hofstadter emphasized the importance of the agrarian myth in American politics and life even after industrialization had revolutionized the American economy and life.  Indeed, American farmers into the 21st century identified themselves as yeomen with a superior claim to republican values., and looked down at the "corruption" they sensed in the nation's cities.<ref>Richard Hofstadter, ''The Age of Reform'' (1955).</ref>

==South==

==South==

==Self image of farmers==

==Self image of farmers==

When [[Harry Truman]]'s Secretary of Agriculture [[Charles Brannan]] in 1949 proposed a plan of direct assistance to small farmers, he justified it by reasserting the importance of the small family farmer as the foundation of American democracy. However in the Grange small farmers opposed the plan because it too closely resembled welfare and would undermine their self image as independent yeomen and successful entrepreneurs. Agribusiness used the same images to oppose it for its own reasons. Brannan sought to protect the small farmer against competition from the large companies, but the plan was not accepted by Congress because farmers self-image would not allow for welfare.<ref>Karen J. Bradley, "Agrarian Ideology and Agricultural Policy: California Grangers and the Post-world War II Farm Policy Debate," ''Agricultural History'' 1995 69(2): 240-256, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744267  in JSTOR]</ref>  

When [[Harry Truman]]'s Secretary of Agriculture [[Charles Brannan]] in 1949 proposed a plan of direct assistance to small farmers, he justified it by reasserting the importance of the small family farmer as the foundation of American democracy. However, in the Grange small farmers opposed the plan because it too closely resembled welfare and would undermine their self-image as independent yeomen and successful entrepreneurs. Agribusiness used the same images to oppose it for its own reasons. Brannan sought to protect the small farmer against competition from the large companies, but the plan was not accepted by Congress because farmers self-image would not allow for welfare.<ref>Karen J. Bradley, "Agrarian Ideology and Agricultural Policy: California Grangers and the Post-world War II Farm Policy Debate," ''Agricultural History'' 1995 69(2): 240-256, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744267  in JSTOR]</ref>  

==See also==

==See also==

* [[The South]]

* [[The South]]

==Bibliography==

==Bibliography==

[[File:Sloth-1873.jpg|thumb|290px|In their self image, [[Yeomen]] farmers hated laziness, ignorance and sloth; 1873 Grange poster]]

[[File:Sloth-1873.jpg|thumb|290px|In their self-image, [[Yeomen]] farmers hated laziness, ignorance and sloth; 1873 Grange poster]]

* Ash, Stephen V. "Poor Whites in the Occupied South, 1861-1865," ''Journal of Southern History,'' 57 (February 1991), [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(199102)57%3A1%3C39%3APWITOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 in JSTOR]

* Ash, Stephen V. "Poor Whites in the Occupied South, 1861-1865," ''Journal of Southern History,'' 57 (February 1991), [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(199102)57%3A1%3C39%3APWITOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 in JSTOR]