Families and farmhouses in nineteenth-century America

An era of great agricultural expansion in America, the nineteenth century witnessed the development of capitalist method, technological innovation, scientific experimentation, and the reorganization of social and family life - changes that were reflected in, and even accelerated by, striking transformations in the vernacular landscape. In this fascinating interdisciplinary study, Sally McMurry examines one arena of domestic change - the design of northern rural farmhouses - as an index of America's shift from an agrarian society to an urban, industrial nation. A unique work that will interest a wide range of readers, Families and Farmhouses in Nineteenth-Century America shows how progressive farm families adapted to industrialization, urbanization, the consolidation of capitalist agriculture, and the rise of a new consumer society. For this paperback edition, McMurry has written a new introduction that summarizes the scholarship done in the field since the book's initial publication in 1988. - Publisher.