Defending a Way of Life

Michael Cassity teaches history at the University of Wyoming at Casper.

"It is no secret that the field of American social history is presently in a quagmire. While some subspecialties (e.g., women's history) are developing fresh approaches, others (e.g. labor history) are not. Michael Cassity's Defending a Way of Life : An American Community in the Nineteenth Century is a marvelously refreshing attempt to free the field from all these problems and to suggest a new agenda for social historians. The various elements of this book weave together so well that it is hard to pinpoint which features are the most important. The strengths begin with the ambitious goal, to illuminate the human condition, carry through the warm and generous exploration of the many ways that human beings have preserved a sense of pride amid pains caused when external forces have changed their internal lives, and certainly include a style that is insightful, eloquent and impassioned in the best senses." — David Thelen, Editor, The Journal of American History

• Preface Part One Of Dreams and Realities Born Chapter I: Origins and Purposes i. Dwellers of the Inland ii. A Birthright Reclaimed Chapter II: The Pattern of Community i. Economy ii. Polity iii. Bonds of Mutuality Chapter III: The Crisis of Change and War i. Prometheus Bound ii. A New Society Part Two The Rising Pattern of Industrial Market Society Chapter IV: The Engines of Economic Growth i. Social Discipline ii. The Juggernaut Chapter V: God and Mammon: The Birth of East Sedalia Chapter VI: A Vale of Tears: The Experiences of Change i. More Than a Machine ii. Visible Destruction iii. The Corruption of Eve iv. Of Faith and Fear Part Three The Agency of the People Chapter VII: The Businessmen and the Market i. The Social Contract ii. Competition: The Lifeblood of Freedom iii. The Curse of Consolidation iv. The Imperative of Autonomy Chapter VIII: The Community of Workers i. The Wellsprings of Vigilance ii. Responsibility: Moral Vision and Social Need iii. Amity and Equity iv. The Sources of Discipline v. Ishmael Chapter IX: The Agrarian Commonweal i. Arcadia and the Scourge of Nature ii. Sowing the Wind iii. Toward the Cooperative Commonwealth Chapter X: The Travail of Sisterhood i. The Ordeal of the Doyennes ii. The World of Women and the World of the Market iii. The Redeemers and the Seeds of Feminism Part Four Conclusion Chapter XI: A Way of Life Forsaken? A Note on Historiography Notes Index