More Names Upon the Land - The Midwest

I recently attended the Society of Midwest Historians conference in Des Moines, Iowa, and it got me thinking about how we came to define the Midwest. Here are a few of my incomplete thoughts on the region stimulated by the two-day conference.

Before the region had a name, European settlers in the East generally referred to the land west of the Allegheny Mountains as the “Frontier.” But in 1787, the land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River was designated as the “Northwest” by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This region included Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the northeastern portion of Minnesota. As the United States expanded westward, the term “Old Northwest” emerged to distinguish it from the Pacific Northwest. But the territory of the Northwest Ordinance remained the starting point for what we now call the Midwest. Interestingly, the physical starting point of the region is represented by historical markers in East Liverpool, Ohio, where the first survey was conducted during George Washington’s administration. These markers refer to the area as both the "Gateway to the Northwest" and the "Beginning of the Western Lands."

 

 The term "Northwest" was eventually shortened to terms like the “Old West,” the “Great West,” and simply “the West”—a term famously used by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. By the time of the Civil War, “Middle West” was in common usage, though other terms, such as "Central States," appeared in 1872 school geography textbooks. Interestingly, Kentucky was included in some of these definitions. 

Historian Frederick Jackson Turner popularized the term "Midwest," which became the standard reference for most Americans by the 1930s.The boundaries of the Midwest have been defined in various ways over time, leading to differing opinions about what exactly constitutes the region. Abraham Lincoln referred to the area as “the great interior region,” while John Frederick, the first editor of Midland magazine in the early 20th century, defined it expansively as “the great valley between the Alleghenies and the Rockies.”

Other terms like “Heartland” and “the Middle” have been used to describe the region.

The Midwest has been defined not only by geographers, but also by artists (like Grant Wood), writers (such as Sherwood Anderson), historians (including Frederick Jackson Turner), culinary historians (like Cynthia Clampitt), and public opinion, as evidenced by a poll conducted by Emerson College.

 

 

Images  

1. Historical Marker of East Liverpool, Ohio Historical Society

2.  Map from Bernard DeVoto's Course of Empire (1952)

3. Map from B.A. Hindsdale's The Old Northwest (1888)

4. Map from Compton New Common School Geography (1872)

 

Fitzgerald's Midwest Morality and the Geography of the Self

 

With the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, it’s worth a look back at the St. Paul native’s Midwest roots and how they appear in his most famous work.


Introduction

As a story teller of the Jazz Age and its later disillusionment, Fitzgerald also created a subtle regional distinction in his literary landscapes. For Fitzgerald, the American Midwest served as the foundation of his characters' origins, a place of inherent morality and traditional values. By contrast, the allure of the East Coast, particularly New York, represented the object of his characters' aspirations, a realm of wealth and glamour that ultimately led to their moral and emotional undoing. (New York City and Long Island can often be seen as what he means by the East.) By contrasting the values he attributed to these regions, Fitzgerald explored the corrosive effects of unchecked ambition and the recognition of what was lost in its pursuit. The geographic contrast of Midwest and East is most evident in The Great Gatsby and his short story "Winter Dreams."

The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, the Midwest is consistently portrayed as a sanctuary of stability and genuine human connection. Nick Carraway, the narrator and a Midwestern transplant to West Egg, Long Island, frames his origins as a source of his moral compass. He describes his home as a place of "broad lawns and friendly trees," immediately establishing a sense of authenticity. The values he associates with the Midwest – honesty, hard work, and a strong sense of community – stand in contrast to the moral ambiguity and reckless abandon he witnesses in the East. The Midwestern characters, like Nick himself, are grounded in these values. His depiction, while perhaps idealization, emphasizes Fitzgerald's belief in the Midwest as a repository of a more wholesome way of life.

By contrast, the East Coast, is the center of wealth, sophistication, and a relentless pursuit of pleasure. However, beneath the glittering surface lies a current of moral decay and superficiality. Characters like Tom and Daisy Buchanan, entrenched in their inherited East Coast affluence, embody this corruption. Their wealth insulates them from the consequences of their actions, fostering a sense of entitlement and a callous disregard for others' feelings. The numerous parties in West Egg, while seemingly vibrant and exciting, are depicted as hollow spectacles, filled with superficial acquaintances and fueled by alcohol and rumor. The pursuit of wealth and social status becomes an end in itself, eclipsing genuine human connection and ethical considerations.

The concluding chapters of The Great Gatsby brings his moral geography full circle. As Nick prepares to return to the Midwest, he reflects on the disillusionment he experienced in the East. He speaks of feeling "a haunting loneliness" amidst the throngs of people and recognizes that the East has lost its "old warm world," a feeling that echoes a longing for the sincerity he associates with his Midwestern upbringing. The passage where he recalls his train journeys home for Christmas encapsulates this yearning for a return to authenticity. The "long green cars of the train" become a symbolic vessel carrying him away from the moral chaos of the East towards the "snow-covered Christmas wreaths and the red-cheeked, laughing faces" – images of joy, and family warmth. Chicago, the gateway to the deeper Midwest, is not just a geographical point but a gateway to a more grounded genuine existence. Nick remembers the "real snow, our snow" in stark contrast to the artificiality and moral chill he has experienced in the East. 

Winter Dreams

Fitzgerald's exploration of this moral geographical also appears in his short story, "Winter Dreams." Dexter Green, a young man from a modest background in Minnesota, is initially drawn to the allure of wealth and the glamour of Judy Jones, a symbol of the privileged East Coast sensibility that has infiltrated his small Midwestern world. Dexter's "winter dreams" are motivated by a desire to move away from his origins and attain the sophistication and social standing that Judy represents. However, his pursuit of this idealized vision leads to heartbreak and ultimately leaves him distraught. Years later, when he learns of Judy's faded beauty and unremarkable marriage, he experiences a sense of loss – not just for Judy, but for the dreams of his youth. The story concludes with Dexter's realization that "something had been taken from him... that he could never quite regain."

Fitzgerald's intention was not to declare the moral superiority of the Midwest. He held a love-hate relationship with both regions. He was drawn to the energy and the possibilities that the East Coast represented. He sought success and recognition in the excitement of the East but mourned the loss of the perceived innocence and genuine connection he associated with the Midwest.

Conclusion

After one-hundred years, Fitzgerald's subtle use of moral geography, contrasting the perceived stability and sincerity of the Midwest with the seductive yet morally ambiguous allure of the East Coast, still endures. The journey from the Midwest to the East serves as a fable for the American struggle between aspiration and authenticity. This is a struggle that continues to resonate with readers today. I feel it myself a bit like Nick Carraway having left the Midwest to live in the East.

Appendix

(Compiled with the help of AI, Google Gemini)

Sources

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (Reader’s Classic Library, 1921)
2. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Winter Dreams (Juniper Grove, 2009)
3. Midwestern Writers and the Myth of the Search, David D. Anderson, The Georgia Review, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Spring 1980), pp. 131-143
4. Scott Fitzgerald’s Fable of East and West, Robert Ornstein, College English, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Dec. 1956), pp. 139-43