Rural Roads to Security

America's Third Struggle for Freedom

Initially written in 1940, Rural Roads to Security is a well-documented book about agrarian life during the Great Depression, and carried a warranted subtitle: “America’s Third Struggle for Freedom”. According to the authors, the first struggle was the war for American independence from Great Britain. The second struggle was the American Civil War, which succeeded to preserve the union and emancipate the enslaved. The third struggle was taking place during the time Ligutti and Rawe were writing – the Great Depression – when the American people’s faith in their political and economic system was being shaken. The industrial slowdown of the 1930s was expected by many to continue indefinitely; some policy-makers believed that agriculture needed to be emphasized to pull the country out of its crisis. Some wondered whether the United States would remain “the land of the free”.