Middle America is acolloquial term for theUnited States heartland, especially the culturallysuburban areas of the United States, typically the lowerMidwestern region of the country, which consists ofOhio,Indiana,Iowa,Nebraska,Kansas,Missouri, anddownstate Illinois.
Middle America is generally used as both a geographic and cultural label, suggesting acentral United States small town or suburb where most people aremiddle class orupper middle class, religiouslyEvangelical,Mainline Protestant, ornon-denominational Christian, and typically, but not always,European Americans, particularly ofAnglo-Saxon Protestant,Ulster Scot, orGermanic descent.
Geographically, the labelMiddle America refers to the territory between theEast Coast of the United States (particularly thenortheast) and theWest Coast. The term has been used in some cases to refer to the inland portions of coastal states, especially if they arerural. Alternately, the term is used to describe thecentral United States.[citation needed]
Middle America is contrasted with the more culturallyprogressive,urban areas of the country, particularly, those of theEast andWest Coasts. The conservative values considered typical of Middle America (often called "family values" in American politics) are often called "Middle American values".[1][failed verification][2]
The plots of such American films asSweet Home Alabama andThe Judge center on the contrast between big city life and that of a typical "Middle America" small town; in both, aprotagonist with a successful big city career is drawn back to an old hometown. Similarly, the protagonist ofJohn Grisham's novelThe Associate leaves a well-paid job at a giant Wall Street law firm and goes to work with his lawyer father in his hometown,York, Pennsylvania. The contrast between "Middle America" and big city America is evident in the life of the fictional superheroSuperman – growing up asSuperboy in the archetypalSmallville and as an adult moving to the equally archetypalMetropolis. The depiction ofRon Kovic's childhood in the early parts ofBorn on the Fourth of July also fits the cultural perceptions of "Middle America" (though Kovic's hometown,Massapequa, is physically located inLong Island). The same applies to the episode ofAyn Rand's novelThe Fountainhead which is set inClayton, Ohio[3] and which depicts that town as the archetype of "Middle America", the polar opposite of the cosmopolitanNew York City where most of the novel's plot takes place.
Recently, there has been a diversification in the demographics traditionally attributed to Middle America. Individuals and families of various ethnic backgrounds, including Asians and Hispanics, have started to reside in small towns in various interior states,[4] including, but not limited to, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Ohio.[citation needed]
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Historically, the economy of Middle America has been supported by agricultural worker and industry labor.[5] Housing prices tend to be significantly less volatile than those on the coasts, and houses tend to appreciate in value more slowly, thelate 2000s mortgage crisis notwithstanding.[6]
The phraseMiddle American values is a political cliché; likefamily values, it refers to moretraditional orconservative politics. However, across the United States and more recently in the South, metropolitan areas and major university towns tend to be politically and socially progressive. Examples of such metropolitan areas includeKansas City, Missouri;Columbus, Ohio;Indianapolis, Indiana; andMinneapolis, Minnesota, and major university towns includeMadison, Wisconsin;Champaign, Illinois;Bloomington, Indiana;Carbondale, Illinois;Lawrence, Kansas;Athens, Ohio; andAnn Arbor, Michigan.[7] Reflecting these countervailing trends, many politicalbattleground states are situated in "Middle America."[6]
Despite likely being an apocryphal story, PresidentLyndon Johnson has been widely attributed as stating “[i]f I’ve lostCronkite, I’ve lost Middle America," after viewing aCBS Evening Newsreport by Walter Cronkite critical of U.S. prospects in theVietnam War in February 1968. The quote is often cited in relation to Johnson's subsequent change of heart a month later indeclining to seek re-election in 1968.[8]
