This award is to help support a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation will utilize the 1850-1880 federal census of population and agriculture to produced a pooled cross-section of panel-like data for six rural townships in Missouri. The purpose of the study is analyze the relationship between changes in family and household demography and changes in economic performance in the sample townships. The major question to be addressed is how did fertility, persistence, race, and birthplace affect tenancy rates, farm income and market orientation during this crucial period in American development? Statistical tests will be undertaken to determine the degree of correlation between family characteristics and the path and progress of agricultural development. It will then be determined how a family's characteristics aided or hindered the production of an agricultural surplus for sale in the market. This project is important because it will provide a better understanding of the economic process during a crucial period in American history.
