Strategies for Commercialization: Missouri Agriculture, 1860-1880

The conventional wisdom that commercialization fostered specialization, in the aggregate and on the farm, is not confirmed by farm-level evidence. I create a linked sample of rural farms and households from the 1860, 1870 and 1880 population and agricultural censuses of Missouri, and add data from local property tax records in order to document and model farmers' production strategies for commercialization. The story of agricultural change in Missouri during the post-Civil War period is not one of commercialization creating opportunities for farmers to specialize. Instead, it is the story of commercialization fostering diversification.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Gregson, Mary Eschelbach

Contributors dc:contributor

• Atack, Jeremy

• History, United States
• Economics, General
• Economics, History

Identifier

(UMI)AAI9329047

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72421