Webblog

In lecture ten we discussed the history of politics on the Great Plains. First of all we talked about how many Republican Conservatives reside in the plains region. Many do this because traditionally a republican president will benefit farmers more than a democratic president would overall. Typically North Dakotan's want to secure their state and local House and Senate with Republican representatives so they ensure that the money goes to the benefit of the farmer and that things stay consistent. North Dakota then normally chooses to send a Democratic representative to Washington DC so that they can bring back the most possible amount of federal funding in order to save the local economy (farming). The Great Plains was also home to many organizations that challenged the federal government. For example, The Grange, Farmer's Alliance, and the Posse Comitatus. The Canadian side of the Plains shows a socialist political system with a single health care provider policy; this system tends to get most of its radical political ideas come from the plains region.
North Dakota has its own national anti-political standoff that it was famous for. This was the Gordon Kahl incident near Medina, ND in February of 1983. He refused to pay federal income tax and was anti-gun control. I found it very interesting that North Dakotans tend to send a democratic representative to Washington, while still remaining a republican-controlled state. Lastly, in answer to our discussion in class, I feel that ND and the plains region were founded under Protestant views and have had a great sense of helping towards a common cause. This region also in a way is a very dependent region, dependent on the metropolis area for agricultural markets, and they are dependent on this region for its production. I believe that in time this region will become even more self-sufficient and not so dependent, due to it having almost every resource.