The Agrarian Ideal in American Culture

Over the decade's American opinion of agricultural communities has undergone a significant shift. Perception of the previously valued farming lifestyle has been diluted by the media and an unjustified superiority complex held by many urban dwellers. Examples of this transition can be seen throughout pop culture from it's prevalence in country music to its appearance in stand-up comedy routines. Farming has shifted from being a highly respected profession to being a punch line of jokes made by many comedians. Two such comedians who belittle agricultural lifestyles are Jeff Foxworthy and Daniel Lawrence Whitney more commonly known as Larry The Cable Guy. Both popular comedian's routines capitalize on jokes about the "Redneck" lifestyle. Foxworthy has based a large part of his career off of a joke series titled "You Might be a Redneck". In these jokes "Redneck" is synonymous for, uneducated, uncivilized and backward. These unfair depictions of millions of Americans contrast sharply with both the views of Jefferson and Slatin, who believe farming is not only an honorable profession but an essential one. This transition is reflective of a shift in the public perception of agricultural which came with the urbanization of America over the decades. 


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Linkage Activity

Linkage Activity

Using the 5 terms below write a paragraph of no more than 6 sentences that explains the connection between.
Virginia
Tobacco
Indentured Servitude
Bacon's Rebellion
Slavery

Virginia first settled in 1607 by the British was founded by the London Company in the hopes of finding mineral riches, instead settlers discovered the value of tobacco which became the chief crop and currency. The settlements were inhabited and worked largely by indentured servants, people who agreed to have their passage to America had been funded by investors to whom they would then belong to for a matter of time (5-7 years) under indentured servitude. Eventually, the growing need for work hands lead to the purchase of African American workers who's indentured servitude often turned into full-fledged slavery. After years of unfair treatment of the slaves and servants Bacon was unsatisfied with the elite upper class and angry that the governor would not legitimise a group of men to go kill Indians. Bacon rallied a group of white and black armed men to fight Indians, the governor  and eventually burn down Jamestown. After the end of Bacons rebellion, stopped by newly arrived soldiers, the government decided to move away from using white slaves, who were entitled to gun ownership in order to prevent future uprisings from the African Americans whose rights they could easily design.