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Essays on the Economic History of the American Frontier

Source: www.reed.edu
Topic: Economic History

Sort Desciption: Explorations in Economic History 24 No. 2. (1987): 130-157. _____. A Statistical Profile of Frontier and New South Migration: 1850-1860. ...

Content Inside: Dissertation Abstract Essays on the Economic History of the American Frontier James I. Stewart Economics Department Reed College 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd Portland Oregon 97202 james.stewart@reed.edu A prevailing view among economic historians is that after 1850 inhabitants of the frontier enjoyed significant opportunity to accumulate wealth. 1 For instance in his path- breaking study of the Wisconsin frontier Merle Curti found low levels of initial wealth but also high rates of wealth accumulation among the early settlers of Trempealeau County. 2 More recently a younger generation of economic historians has identified similar patterns of wealth holding and wealth accumulation in frontier areas of Utah Arkansas Texas Iowa and Missouri between 1850 and 1870 contributing further to the perception of the frontier as a place of economic opportunity. 3 While our understanding of wealth on the frontier is now considerable less is known about who moved to the frontier. That is due in part to the effort required to trace households over time in the census manuscript schedules. The contributions of Donald Schaefer Richard Steckel and Joseph Ferrie notwithstanding historians know less about the backgrounds of migrants including their wealth occupations and places of residency before migration. 4 We do not know how many of the poorest Americans moved to the frontier nor whether as Frederick Jackson Turner surmised households in urban and rural areas in the East availed themselves of the free lands of the West. 5 In short the 1 This dissertation was completed at Northwestern University under the supervision of Joseph P. Ferrie. 2 Curti Making. 3 See Kearl Pope and Wimmer Household Wealth; Schaefer Model of Migration; Galenson and Pope Economic and Geographic Mobility; and Gregson Wealth Accumulation. 4 Schaefer Statistical Profile; Richard Steckel Household Migration; Ferrie Migration. 5 Turner Contributions. 2 forces impelling households to the frontier are st ...

occupations on the american frontier

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