Rural Worlds Lost: History and Culture of the Appalachian South 4219-SH0026

What role have rural places had in American history? In this course, we explore the history and culture of rural America through the specific lens of Central and Southern Appalachia. You will learn how the idea of Appalachia as a distinct region emerged during the 18th century and evolved during the 19th century to establish the “otherness” of Appalachia. We will also explore the continuing power of stereotypes about the region and its inhabitants in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the region’s current role as the epicenter of backlash politics.

In the colonial era, Appalachia was America’s „first frontier,” a border between the English colonies to the east and Indian country to the west. The mixing of cultures and races/ethnicities in early Appalachia, combined with ecological and economic patterns distinguishing the mountain areas of the South, set the stage for later understandings of regional distinctiveness. During the Civil War, the deep divisions in the region led to intense conflict between unionists and confederates, and ongoing guerrilla warfare.

The rise of industrial, urban society in the 19th century highlighted Appalachia’s distinctiveness, which was defined by a dispersed rural population that largely practiced subsistence agriculture. In the late 19th century, these differences shaped the idea of Appalachia as „other,” a stranded place lost in time and left behind with the progression of American society. This idea was promoted by local color writers and reinforced in popular culture, and it accompanied the arrival of capitalist exploitation, especially the timber and mining industries.

Appalachia has always been more complex than stereotypes suggest. Students will examine the basis for Appalachian stereotypes in conjunction with the region’s long tradition of resistance and persistence.

Among the topics we will explore are the history of 19th century Appalachia; cultural pluralism and racial and ethnic diversity; origins of an Appalachian regional identity; the experience of Civil War & Reconstruction; the “discovery” of Appalachia in the late 1800s; the development of the “hillbilly” stereotype; the impact of extractive industrialization, the region’s role as an “internal colony,” and the ongoing struggle between labor and capital; Appalachia’s War on Poverty; the birth of the Appalachian identity movement; and the current role of Appalachia in American cultural politics and environmental destruction.