In February 1979, American farmers drove their tractors into Washington, D.C. - not as a spectacle, but as a demand. Facing falling crop prices, rising debt, and a growing wave of foreclosures, they brought the machinery of rural life to the center of political power, determined to be seen and heard.
Among them were Kansas farmers, including a group from Edwards County whose experiences were later preserved through oral histories at the Kinsley Public Library. They were not seasoned protestors or political insiders. They were farmers who believed that the system meant to represent them was no longer responding… and that something more than voting was required to make their voices count.
In this episode, we follow their journey from the plains to the nation’s capital: an 18-day winter caravan marked by mechanical breakdowns, snowstorms, and unexpected moments of community along the way. In Washington, their protest became something more complicated - at times confrontational, at times cooperative - as farmers clashed with authorities, navigated public opinion, and even helped the city they had come to challenge.
The Tractorcade raises a fundamental question at the heart of the Declaration of Independence: what does it mean for government to derive its power from the consent of the governed? And what happens when people believe that consent is no longer being heard?

Original content © Per Aspera and licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Some archival excerpts are used under fair use for commentary, criticism, and education.