University of Arkansas | System Division of Agriculture
[email protected] ∙ (479) 575-7646 An Agricultural Law Research Article Of Agriculture’s First Disobedience and Its Fruit Part 1 by Jim Chen Originally published in VANDERBILT LAW REVIEW 48 VAND. L. REV. 1261 (1995) www.NationalAgLawCenter.org VANDERBILT LAW REVIEW VOLUME 48 OCTOBER 1995 NUMBER 5 Of Agriculture's First Disobedience and Its Fruit* Jim Chen" I. IN THE BEGINNING , . 1262 II. AMERICAN AGRICULTURE'S ORIGINAL SIN . 1274 A. Fiat Lex .. 1274 B. To Live and Die in Dixie .. 1287 1. The Southern Crucible . 1288 2. Agrarian Apotheosis .. 1290 3. Native Son . 1299 4. Exodus . 1302 5. The Song of the South . 1312 C. Agrarian Apocalypse . 1315 1. The Twilight of the Farm . 1315 2. Stories of Origin, Songs of Experience .. 1324 III. REDEMPTION WITHOUT ROMANCE .. 1326 • Compare John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1, 11. 1-3 (London, 1667) ("Of Man's First Disobedience, and the Fruit / Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste / Brought Death into the World ..."). .. Associate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School. Except where indicated otherwise, all scriptural references are to the Authorised (King James) Version. I thank Dan Farber, Dan Gifford, Neil Hamilton, Chris Kelley, Drew Kershen, Guadalupe Luna, John McGinnis, Mark Movsesian, and David Purnell for their helpful comments and suggestions. Tracey Chabala, Deanna Johnson, and Steffen Johnson provided able research assistance. Finally, I wish to acknowledge Vanderbilt Law Review editor Scott Smith, who went beyond the minimal demands of editing and lent me keen insights into Southern literature and Christian theology. 1261 1262 VANDERBILT LAW REVIEW [Vol.