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Subsistence farming has been a marginal activity even in colonial North America, and that was even more true in United States. It was mostly restricted to nativ
by xyzzyz 4y ago
Subsistence farming has been a marginal activity even in colonial North America, and that was even more true in United States. It was mostly restricted to native Americans. The rest were overwhelmingly engaged in market farming, not subsistence — either as owners, hired laborers, or slaves. In any case, by 1960, US society was overwhelmingly urbanized, and subsistence farming has faded from living memory.
- tptacek 4y agoI'm just saying that if you look at the birth rate chart, the further away you get from modernity, the higher the birth rate goes. Substitute whichever more accurate words you prefer.
- xyzzyz 4y agoThis might seem like nitpicking, but it is hugely important distinction for people interested in demographics. The simple fact is that societies engaged in subsistence farming are, in fact, stable instead of growing, and their TFR is not very far from 2. This has been true about, say, most of pre 1800s Europe, or pre 1900s sub Saharan Africa, but has not been true about North America for last 400 years until very recently.