When did a house with a “white picket fence” become part of
the American dream? What’s so great about white picket fences? Don’t they
make mowing the lawn more difficult, and who wants to repaint them every few
years?
While it might not seem so obvious, the dream of a nice
house in the suburbs that is surrounded by a white picket fence goes a little
beyond personal tastes. The American dream is about owning your own piece of
property, where you can live and raise a family as you please. The white
picket fence symbolizes this ownership, and it aids in keeping the hustle and
bustle of the outside world away from the peace and simplicity at home.
With that said, who wouldn’t want a nice white picket
fence? Fortunately, this American dream is possible. As disposable income and
standard of living increase each year, so does the popularity of the suburbs.
Technically, what makes it all possible is the idea of “property rights.” In
the United States, and other free nations, the citizens are able to purchase
their own piece of land, and build their own home upon it.
It might seem so simple in today’s world, but the issue of
property rights wasn’t always so clear in America (and it still isn’t in
many areas of the world). In the western frontier, settlers argued that
nobody should be able to claim their own piece of land. There seemed to be
enough for everyone to share. In those days, you didn’t protect your property
with a white picket fence—you used barbed wire. Here’s a “historical
perspective.”
When Americans were settling the West during the early
1800s, most farmers simply let their livestock roam free and graze. There was
so much open land that this was never a problem. The idea of open grazing was
the norm, so there was no use in complaining when a cow came into your garden
for a midday snack. If there were areas that were off-limits (like a
backyard, garden, or crop field), it was the owner’s responsibility to
fence it off. Since it was only practical to fence off small areas, it wasn’t
considered a real violation of the open grazing policies.
All of that changed in the 1870s when Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire. People could now easily fence off huge portions of land and
keep the pesky cattle away. The days of open grazing were no more. This
obviously upset the farmers who were still convinced that there was enough land
in the West for everyone to use as they pleased. It only added to the anger
when livestock returned to the farms with serious injuries after being cut by
barbed wire.
In protest, the farmers began the "Fence Cutting War,” taking down barbed wire wherever they saw it. Unfortunately for them, the fence
was put back up again in no time. Over time, the right to protect one’s
property overran the open grazing policy, and fences became commonplace. As
the United States continued to expand westward and the population continued to
grow, it became obvious that people needed a way to lay claim to their own
piece of land.
Today, barbed-wire fences are usually used for the purpose
of keeping cattle in as opposed to keeping unwanted cattle out.
The fence is effective for cows and horses, but other animals (sheep, goats,
and pigs) can usually work around it. Pigs, for example, can dig under the barbed wire fence, and therefore require a more secure pen. Fortunately,
white picket fences work a lot better!