Seeking the Middle in a Sectionalizing America: James Dinsmore and the Shaping of Regional Cultural Economies, 1816-1872.

摘要

This dissertation examines the evolving American landscape from the Early Republic to Reconstruction through the lens of one man's life. During James Dinsmore's lifetime, Americans experienced rapid change in all aspects of their lives. Industrialization created new opportunities just as the extension of democracy gave increasing numbers of white men decision-making powers within their government. As Americans like Dinsmore moved west to the frontier, they often confronted new conditions: economic, social, environmental, political, and cultural. How they, and he, chose to accommodate themselves to these new realities is fundamentally a story about creating cultural economies.;Dinsmore's adaptations to the regions he successively inhabited and his subsequent discomfort, offer a unique perspective on how those regions were changing. Educated at Dartmouth College to appreciate the economic contributions of all sections of the nation, the transformation of that region into a more competitive, urban, and industrial society influenced his decision to move south. Natchez and Terrebonne Parish represented the transformation of the Old Southwest from a frontier to a plantation-based, hierarchical cultural and social economy based on the labor of large numbers of slaves. Boone County, Kentucky, with a mixed economy founded on yeoman-based agriculture, evolved from its former Whig-friendly cultural economy, based on diverse interests and compromise into a sectionalized, proslavery, Democratic, political economy. As a perpetual outsider, Dinsmore's attempt to create compatible social and cultural economies in each of these places was only partially successful. He was never able to construct a middle space where he could feel content. A nationalist from his youth, he witnessed the growing sectionalization of those around him. Though he argued for the emancipation of slaves, others successfully argued for increased protections for their property. The Civil War, which engulfed his region, reinforced his status as an outsider.;Always on the periphery of the regions he inhabited, Dinsmore's failure to find a center attests to the varied and contested meanings of nationalism and regional cultures during this time period.;Further, this dissertation analyzes Dinsmore's migrations. Raised in New Hampshire, he moved to Natchez in the Mississippi Territory, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and Boone County, Kentucky. In choosing these locations he confronted new conditions that he either adapted to or he risked isolation. His early life in New England encouraged him to be proud of its imagined free heritage; nevertheless, he accepted plantation slavery in the Southwest and created a mixed labor force in the border region. These economic realities were accompanied by social and cultural influences that were not always compatible with Dinsmore's own convictions, leaving him in an uncomfortable position.