1. Family Ties to Rural Life

I've spent half the summers of my life in one of the least populated regions of the US. I notice a world independent of the one that we see in the cities. The American spirit of fierce independence remains alive out here. Many American families trace their beginnings to agriculture but so few still have any memory of it. Over the century small family operations have given way to bigger and bigger corporate operations. A family-owned business has always been a way to wealth in America and it seems that we see less and less of those over decades, as a more centralized production structure sets in.

2. Farms of the Past

My mother's immediate family was representative of a typical American family of the time. 4 or more children, middle class, with opportunities for wealth creation. Farms were smaller, machinery simpler, communities closer, and the future brighter for Americans who saw nothing but progress and payoff in their years. My grandfather's experience was producing crops and livestock for the family, and selling what was leftover for income. The American family ranch/dairy has been the first to go over the past few decades. Almost no farmers raise dairy cows anymore here, as pricing and regulation have ensured that only the biggest survive.

3. Farm of the Future

My grandpa retired from farming in the mid-1990s and the farm changed the hands of family members a couple of times. It is now in the hands of my generation, and things seem uncertain. The machinery is huge and mind-blowingly expensive. Manufactures no longer want farmers working on their own machines. And the name of the game is getting big or die. The farm has ballooned in size under my cousin's watch and all the newest advances of the past couple decades brought in, but theirs just one problem technology isn’t solving. The climate here is warming and things drying out.

4. Farms Developed Americas Markets

Before there was the S&P 500 and big chip stocks, Americans used to watch crop prices to see how everyone was too fair this year. It was the birth of modern economics in that supply and demand were so simple. High crop prices were good for farmers and bad for consumers. I’ll likely research how historical dependence on these prices influenced American government domestic and foreign policy over the ages. Farming like an entrepreneurial enterprise is a gamble, and these prices are something for farmers to loom over. Whereas the variety and quantity of crops have made prices insignificant to the average consumer.

5. American Landownership was its Wealth

One interesting phenomenon, unique to America has been its slow westward expansion. Opening new territories for exploration and economic activity has always been a significant way in which America weathered economic downturn. America was and remains an agricultural nation. Many wealthy American families can find their roots in land ownership. I would research practices of land acquisition and its importance to the “American Dream.” What does it take to acquire productive land today? And who has been left out of this activity and what sort of mark does all this leave on the country today?

6. American Productivity

The United States began the shift from a primarily agricultural nation to an industrial one, in the mid 19th century. In the 20th century, the effects were far and wide. The population of this country exploded and so did its production capability. I would research how America's vast resources contributed to its massive industrial compacity and population boom. It was once unthinkable that the country would swell to the size that it is today. A population cap would be reached, and people would begin to starve, but this never happened. Understanding the growth of agriculture, and other utilizations of America's vast resources have been critical to the success of the country against all circumstances.

7. The Great Technological Experiment

The evolution that has made modern America possible, has come in the form of rapid technological advances that made power across and taming an entire continent in a matter of decades possible. At one time there seemed to be endless room for resource extraction and thriving human life and experimentation. Here I would talk about how trains, automobiles, and all types of machines made American growth possible. Even though we’ve run out of new land to explore and exploit, we are constantly finding ways to increase the productive nature of the land and the machinery. Once the physical and primitive progress had stopped, the technological battle was on for who could make the best product.