The novel is set in southern Nebraska in the period between the 1880s and the early 1900s. Although the Divide is a fictionalized version of this region, the cultural mosaic Cather depicts reflects what this area was like at the time. There was an immigration boom in the United States in the late 19th century, as the country industrialized and gained a reputation as a place of limitless economic potential. Many immigrants were fleeing persecution in Europe (anti-Semitism, for instance, was on the rise). Others were simply hoping for a more economically prosperous life. The Bergsons, from Sweden, try to make their fortune alongside European immigrants from France, from the place we now call the Czech Republic, and elsewhere.
Instead of newer industrial jobs, the Bergsons and other residents of the Divide are trying to make it as homesteaders. This is because the U.S. government used homesteads (concentrated in the middle of the country) as a tool to encourage loyal citizenship after the Civil War. Anyone who had not fought for the Confederacy, including immigrants who were in the process of naturalization, could mortgage a homestead at a relatively low cost. They could then use the land to pay off their mortgage and, hopefully, get rich.
The novel's central conflict is related to the low odds of this opportunity actually paying off without a great deal of hard work and patience. Although the United States did see economic growth during this period, the wealth was disproportionately consolidated in corporations. Immigrants who had risked everything for the "American dream" began to look all over for new ways to make money. For example, Carl learns to be an engraver. Later, when that doesn't pay off as much as he would have liked, he explains that he hopes to strike it rich in the Yukon during the gold rush:
[...]Engraving’s a very interesting profession, but a man never makes any money at it. So I’m going to try the gold-fields.
Things are difficult for Alexandra and her family in the Divide, and her deepest hope is that she can help Emil and future generations live a prosperous life away from the homestead. Nonetheless, her determination to make things work on the homestead ultimately pays off for her better than other characters' "get-rich-quick" schemes. The novel uses the setting of the Divide to suggest that a combination of risk, patience, and persistence pays off more than anything else the world may promise.
