Middle America (United States)

Last updated December 08, 2023

Middle America is a colloquial term for the United States heartland, especially the culturally suburban areas of the United States, typically the Lower Midwestern region of the country, which consists of Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and downstate Illinois.^{[ citation needed ]}

Middle America is generally used as both a geographic and cultural label, suggesting a central United States small town or suburb that is equidistant from most parts of the country, has a temperate climate, where most people speak with a General American accent, are middle class or upper middle class, Evangelical or Mainline Protestant, and typically European Americans or of German American and general Northern European descent, particularly Anglo-Saxon Protestant, Ulster Scot, or other Germanic descent.

As a geographical label

Geographically, the label Middle America refers to the territory between the East Coast of the United States (particularly the northeast) and the West Coast. The term has been used in some cases to refer to the inland portions of coastal states, especially if they are rural. Alternately, the term is used to describe the central United States.^{[ citation needed ]}

As a cultural label

Middle America is contrasted with the more culturally progressive, urban areas of the country, particularly, those of the East and West Coasts. The conservative values considered typical of Middle America (often called "family values" in American politics) are often called "Middle American values".^[1]^{[ failed verification ]}^[2]

The plots of such American films as Sweet Home Alabama and The Judge center on the contrast between big city life and that of a typical "Middle America" small town; in both, a protagonist with a successful big city career is drawn back to an old hometown. Similarly, the protagonist of John Grisham's novel The Associate leaves a well-paid job at a giant Wall Street law firm and goes to work with his lawyer father in his hometown, York, Pennsylvania. The contrast between "Middle America" and big city America is evident in the life of the fictional superhero Superman – growing up as Superboy in the archetypal Smallville and as an adult moving to the equally archetypal Metropolis. The depiction of Ron Kovic's childhood in the early parts of Born on the Fourth of July also fits the cultural perceptions of "Middle America" (though Kovic's hometown, Massapequa, is physically located in Long Island). The same applies to the episode of Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead which is set in Clayton, Ohio ^[3] and which depicts that town as the archetype of "Middle America", the polar opposite of the cosmopolitan New York City where most of the novel's plot takes place.

Recently, there has been a diversification in the demographics traditionally attributed to Middle America. Individuals and families of various ethnic backgrounds, including Asians and Hispanics, have started to reside in small towns in various interior states,^[4] including, but not limited to, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Ohio.^{[ citation needed ]}

Economy

Historically, the economy of Middle America has been supported by agricultural worker and industry labor.^[5] Housing prices tend to be significantly less volatile than those on the coasts, and houses tend to appreciate in value more slowly, the late 2000s mortgage crisis notwithstanding.^[6]

Politics

The phrase Middle American values is a political cliché; like family values, it refers to more traditional or conservative politics. However, across the United States and more recently in the South, metropolitan areas and major university towns tend to be politically and socially progressive. Examples of such metropolitan areas include Kansas City, Missouri; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, and major university towns include Madison, Wisconsin; Champaign, Illinois; Bloomington, Indiana; Carbondale, Illinois; Lawrence, Kansas; Athens, Ohio; and Ann Arbor, Michigan.^[7] Reflecting these countervailing trends, many political battleground states are situated in "Middle America."^[6]

Despite likely being an apocryphal story, President Lyndon Johnson has been widely attributed as stating “[i]f I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America," after viewing a CBS Evening News report by Walter Cronkite critical of U.S. prospects in the Vietnam War in February 1968. The quote is often cited in relation to Johnson's subsequent change of heart a month later in declining to seek re-election in 1968.^[8]

Related Research Articles

Alice O'Connor, better known by her pen name Ayn Rand, was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.

The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It was officially named the North Central Region by the U.S. Census Bureau until 1984. It is between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States, with Canada to the north and the Southern United States to the south.

The Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect who battles against conventional standards and refuses to compromise with an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation. Roark embodies what Rand believed to be the ideal man, and his struggle reflects Rand's belief that individualism is superior to collectivism.

Ellsworth may refer to:

U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching 3,019 miles (4,859 km) from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near the Pacific Ocean. The Interstates were constructed later and are mostly separate from this route. It generally serves a corridor south of I-70 and I-80 and north of I-64 and I-40.

U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, Michigan, at an intersection with Interstate 75 (I-75), and its western terminus is near Minturn, Colorado, at an intersection with I-70. The highway transitions from north–south to east–west signage at the Ohio–Michigan state line.

The territory of the United States and its overseas possessions has evolved over time, from the colonial era to the present day. It includes formally organized territories, proposed and failed states, unrecognized breakaway states, international and interstate purchases, cessions, and land grants, and historical military departments and administrative districts. The last section lists informal regions from American vernacular geography known by popular nicknames and linked by geographical, cultural, or economic similarities, some of which are still in use today.

This is a bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Objectivism is a philosophical system initially developed in the 20th century by Rand.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">West North Central states</span> Group of states in the Central North-western part of the US

The West North Central states form one of the nine geographic subdivisions within the United States that are officially recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The following is a set–index article, providing a list of lists, for the cities, towns and villages within the jurisdictional United States. It is divided, alphabetically, according to the state, territory, or district name in which they are located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upland South</span> Geographic region in the Southern United States

The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, and settlement patterns.

Heartland or Heartlands may refer to:

The heartland, when referring to a cultural region of the United States, is the central land area of the country, usually the Midwestern United States or the states that do not border the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, associated with mainstream or traditional values, such as economic self-sufficiency, conservative political and religious ideals, and rootedness in agrarian life.

The following works deal with the cultural, political, economic, military, biographical and geologic history of the Midwestern United States.

<i>American Nations</i> Non-fiction book by Colin Woodard

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America is an American non-fiction book written by Colin Woodard and published in 2011. Woodard proposes a framework for examining American history and current events based on a view of the country as a federation of eleven nations, each defined by a shared culture established by each nation's founding population.

References

↑ "Comment: editorials, opinion and columns". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on April 3, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
↑ "Time: Middle Americans". Chnm.gmu.edu. January 5, 1970. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
↑ Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. Part III, Ch. 4.
↑ Lee, Barrett; Hook, Jennifer Van (February 21, 2017). "Diversity is on the rise in urban and rural communities, and it's here to stay". The Conversation. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
↑ "Outline of the U.S. Economy". usa.usembassy.de.
1 2 Paul Jankowski (April 18, 2012). "Six Ignorant Stereotypes About Middle America". Forbes. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
↑ Gabriel Winant (May 17, 2010). "Who's more condescending to Middle America?". Salon.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
↑ Campbell, W. Joseph (2010). Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25566-1.

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[1] "Comment: editorials, opinion and columns". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on April 3, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

[2] "Time: Middle Americans". Chnm.gmu.edu. January 5, 1970. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

[3] Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. Part III, Ch. 4.

[4] Lee, Barrett; Hook, Jennifer Van (February 21, 2017). "Diversity is on the rise in urban and rural communities, and it's here to stay". The Conversation. Retrieved August 14, 2019.

[5] "Outline of the U.S. Economy". usa.usembassy.de.

[forbes1-6] 1 2 Paul Jankowski (April 18, 2012). "Six Ignorant Stereotypes About Middle America". Forbes. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

[7] Gabriel Winant (May 17, 2010). "Who's more condescending to Middle America?". Salon.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.

[8] Campbell, W. Joseph (2010). Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25566-1.

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