the roots of rural captialism chris clark

Christopher Clark’s, The Roots of Rural Capitalism focuses on the Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Clark’s study of the economy of the Connecticut River Valley traces the move from an economy based on household subsistence to one of wage labor and commercial industry. Clark argues that the society did not change because of any particular underlying reason, but because of changes in the Valley. …

…The book was a good read, but it still left me very much confused. The book, The Roots of Rural Capitalism is a great study into the world of capitalism in the antebellum period. The main argument from Clark is that cultural and ideological changes along with economic changes led to the growth of the Valley. I think this is real important because it shows that the growth of capitalism was not the same everywhere.