JOHN BODNAR

Urban growth, ethnic and religious diversity. and the spread of large corporations destroyed the reality of Protestant, middle-class power in the region and the ability of their ideology and the pioneer symbol to remain uncontested. The region's leadership class came to include Catholics as well as Protestants, corporate leaders, professionals, and small producers.

The nationalization of Midwestern culture, which had already begun in the nineteenth century, was intensified after the 1890s. This could be seen most clearly in the rising influence of the patriot symbol. During the nineteenth century the region's culture had been dominated by a native, Protestant middle class that celebrated self-reliant, small-scale capitalists as model citizens. This cultural construction reflected the belief of middle-class leaders that they had been responsible for the region's growth and an attempt by them to reform the behavior of thousands of immigrants whom they felt did not share their commitment to self-improvement and progress. These leaders and the communities in which they lived were certainly proud of the patriotism of their ancestors, but they saw all that they had built grounded ultimately in the rugged individualism which they believed they and their pioneer ancestors had exhibited.

The nationalization of Midwestern culture, which had already begun in the nineteenth century, was intensified after the 1890s. This could be seen most clearly in the rising influence of the patriot symbol. During the nineteenth century the region's culture had been dominated by a native, Protestant middle class that celebrated self-reliant, small-scale capitalists as model citizens. This cultural construction reflected the belief of middle-class leaders that they had been responsible for the region's growth and an attempt by them to reform the behavior of thousands of immigrants whom they felt did not share their commitment to self-improvement and progress. These leaders and the communities in which they lived were certainly proud of the patriotism of their ancestors, but they saw all that they had built grounded ultimately in the rugged individualism which they believed they and their pioneer ancestors had exhibited.

Urban growth, ethnic and religious diversity. and the spread of large corporations destroyed the reality of Protestant, middle-class power in the region and the ability of their ideology and the pioneer symbol to remain uncontested. The region's leadership class came to include Catholics as well as Protestants, corporate leaders, professionals, and small producers.