Perceptions and identity: Poverty in 19th century Rockingham County

Author

Kayla Heslin, James Madison UniversityFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8020-610X

Date of Graduation

5-7-2020

Semester of Graduation

Spring

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Department of History

Advisor(s)

Evan Friss

Kevin Borg

Rebecca Brannon

Abstract

The historical analysis of poverty has lain silent for nearly two decades, with only recent authors, such as Nancy Isenberg and Kerri Leigh Merritt, broaching the topic. While several others have taken a deep dive into understanding the causes and effects of contemporary poverty, it seems to me a great deal has yet to be written on the identity of those impoverished and their active endeavors to define themselves in economic circumstances largely beyond their control. Until we truly explore the complexity of economic dearth and its relation to collective identity, we cannot fully understand the topic of “poverty.”

In this way, poverty is a very complex topic, as it cannot ever truly be reduced to a discussion of those immediately affected by want and its causes. It requires one to understand perceptions of the impoverished, how these perceptions informed the identity of the poor, and how the poor interacted with members outside and within their immediate social group. In reality, poverty is a messy subject, but one that deserves attention. Thus, through this analysis of poverty in antebellum Rockingham County, I hope to illustrate the many indivisible connections of race, class, and gender in the construction of perceptions and responses to poverty.

Recommended Citation

Heslin, Kayla, "Perceptions and identity: Poverty in 19th century Rockingham County" (2020). Masters Theses, 2020-current. 1.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029/1