In Revolt Against the City, author Grant Wood argues for the creation of an art movement that is uniquely American. This identity, he argues, cannot be negotiated in cities; it must be discovered in outlying regions where the true American flavor is found. “Central and dominant in our Midwestern scene,” he notes, “is the farmer,” whom he characterizes as a “rugged individual” who “is not articulate” (CR 232-233). These are not deemed bad qualities, though. Instead, they make him “the richest kind of material for the writer and the artist” (233). Said another way, these uniquely “farmer” characteristics makes the farmer uniquely American. In doing so, Woods builds on Henry Nash Smith’s and Thomas Jefferson’s notion of theory of American identity: that it is rooted in the farm. Said another way, farming is inextricably linked to the American cultural identity.