Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1988
Abstract
T he northern Plains witnessed the last great farm revolt in its history during the 1930s, when a flood of protest spilled across the region, fed by the springs of hard times and earlier insurgencies. The countryside, for one last moment, forced itself upon the rest of the country and demanded attention for its plight. After a period of high visibility, these efforts receded in the wake of New Deal programs that seemingly undercut the rural revolt. Many of the protesters arrived at an accommodation with the new regime, accepting "half-aloaf now" in terms of wheat allotment checks and refinanced mortgages instead of "pie-inthe- sky" dreams of "cost-of-production" and the "cooperative commonwealth." Some, of course, continued to resist the sirens of expediency and accommodation, at least a bit longer1 But most observers agreed that Depression era insurgency peaked in 1933 and had pretty much wound down by the 1936 election.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly [GPQ 8 (Summer 1988): 131-144].Copyright 1988 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska—Lincoln.