Later in American history, the poor would be expelled to the frontier and other areas that the wealthy deemed undesirable.Īlthough American ideals such as equality of opportunity are touted, there is an entrenched class structure in the US. Many were worked to death, as the upper classes considered them expendable. In the Americas, these poor immigrants, many of whom were indentured servants, worked under difficult conditions. The poor were consigned to swampy, sandy, and otherwise problematic lands. Repeatedly, Isenberg emphasizes the identification of types of people with types of land. More specifically, the upper classes sought to expel the poor of London, called waste people, to the “wasteland” of America. Originally published in 2016, the book became a New York Times bestseller and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anthony Lukas Book Prize for Nonfiction, and the John Kenneth Galbraith Award for PEN America.Īll quotations and references in this guide are from the 2017 Penguin Books paperback edition.Ĭontent warning: Several derogatory terms for the white underclass, such as white trash, are included in the guide, as Isenberg chronicles the discriminatory attitudes towards poor white people.Ĭhallenging the traditional narrative of early settlers coming to America solely for religious freedom, Isenberg explains that America was initially a place to send the unwanted of England.

Isenberg, an award-winning historian, uses her expertise to contribute this non-fictional work to the academic literature on social class. In White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg documents the historical and contemporary disdain of the upper and middle classes in America for the white poor and the resultant staying power of a class hierarchy.

White trash the 400 year untold history