| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 88.2

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 88.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

A House Dividing: Economic Development in Pennsylvania and Virginia before the Civil War. By John Majewski. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. xx, 214 pp. $49.95, ISBN 0-521-59023-X.)

The debate over regional economic development and the growth of sectionalism continues to attract the attention of historians. There seems to be consensus on several points: the antebellum South grew but did not develop economically; southerners prospered before secession; and slavery served as an obstacle to the full blossoming of the entrepreneurial plans of southern boosters. John Majewski weighs in on these issues in A House Dividing. Acknowledging that a comparative study of Pennsylvania and Virginia is akin to analyzing apples and oranges, Majewski nonetheless pens a pithy and provocative monograph on the burdens of a slave economy on the development of the Old Dominion. 1

Majewski begins his book by analyzing the growth of developmental organizations in two representative counties: Albemarle County, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He painstakingly examines how local efforts to plan and build internal improvements evolved. The picture that emerges is one of vibrant boosterism, as locals in each county strove to create a viable transportation system that would link markets and create local prosperity. . . .

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