Dorothy Schwieder's Iowa The Middle Land

Iowa the Middle Land Dorothy Schwieder, in her book Iowa the Middle Land, challenges the stereotypical view of Iowans and delves in deeper about Iowa’s history and the transition of how it became the state known to its’ citizens today. Throughout the course of the book, one learns, an in-depth history of Iowa not generally taught in most schools. This book explores the changes in Iowa’s history that have occurred from the time Iowa was a territory, to statehood, and to the present. Not only does this book offer important facts and the history of the state, but also entertaining and interesting facts, for instance, the first governor of Iowa was a stagecoach driver named Ansel Briggs. All of the information in this book and her arguments further explain why she believes Iowa is the middle land. One of Schwieder’s main points is that Iowa is very much in the middle, and not just because of its location. Everything about the state of Iowa is in the middle, from the geographic location, to the demographic and topography of the land. Iowa is a transitional state

Her book, Iowa the Middle Land discusses how Iowa and everything relating to it, is in the middle. She explains her arguments thoroughly using Iowa’s history to back up her points. She divided her book into three sections to help explain the transitions of Iowa’s history. In each section, she has different chapters to break it down further; this is an effective way to promote her arguments. She argues that Iowa is in the middle of the country and its topography is also centralized because it helps transition travelers to what lays ahead in connecting states. She also goes into detail about the political and economic aspect of the state and how through the course of Iowa’s history Iowans became not exceedingly wealthy or poor, along with not being radically liberal or conservative but somewhere in the