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Levenstein, M. History of the American Economy
Economics 491 Professor Margaret Levenstein
History of the American Economy Mr. Monty Hindman (sec 1)
Winter 1996 Ms. Jennifer Mittelstadt (sec 2)
This course examines the economic history of the United States from
colonial settlement through the late twentieth century. We will
examine the sources of U.S. economic growth, the creation of an
integrated national economy, changes in income distribution, and the
evolution of political-economic institutions.
The primary "text" for the course is a coursepack of required readings,
available at Kelley's Kopies (617 East University, Suite 211). We will
also read extensively from the following books, which are available for
purchase at the bookstore.
Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism Naomi Lamoreaux, Great
Merger Movement in American Business Edmund Morgan American Slavery,
American Freedom Gavin Wright, Political Economy of the Cotton South
If you do not have much background in U.S. history, you may find it
useful to follow along with a standard textbook as well. A New
Economic View of American History (2nd edition) by Jeremy Atack and
Peter Passell has more explicit economic analysis. History of the
American Economy, by Gary Walton and Hugh Rockoff has more historical
background. For those of you who have not had any U.S. history, I
suggest you look at Mary Beth Norton et al A People and A Nation. If
you have never read The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E. B.
White (MacMillan 1979), you must do so. All four books should be
available at the bookstore.
All of the readings are also on reserve in the Shapiro Undergraduate
Library.
The grade for the course will be based on the writing assignments
(40%), a midterm (30%), and a final exam (30%). There are six paper
assignments (five pages each). ECB students must complete all six
assignments. Non-ECB students must complete assignments one, three,
and five (those due on January 18, February 13, and April 10). Late
assignments will receive a deduction of one third of a grade for each
class period they are late. There may also be occasional, ungraded
(but required!) in-class writing assignments.
To satisfy the ECB requirement, you must complete all of the writing
assignments, receive a grade of at least C- in the course, have junior
or senior standing, and have registered appropriately. If you do not
write all of the assignments you will not receive ECB credit, even if
you have received a satisfactory grade in the course.
My office is 205 Lorch Hall. My office hours are 1:00-3:00 on Mondays
and by appointment. You can reach me at 764-5274 or by e-mail at
MaggieL@UMich.edu.
Course Outline
Week 1 (1/11): Overview of the Class Readings:
D. McCloskey, "Economical Writing," Economic Inquiry 23:2 (1985) pp. 187-222.
William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, entire book.
Week 2 (1/16-1/18): Overview of U. S. Economic Development:
Institutions, Markets, and Regions
Readings: Stanley Engerman and Kenneth Sokoloff, "Factor Endowments,
Institutions, and
Differential Paths of Growth Among New World Economies: A
View from Economic Historians of the United States,"
forthcoming in How Latin America Fell Behind: Essays on the
Economic Histories of Brazil and Mexico, 1810-1930, Stephen
Haber (ed.) Stanford University Press 1995.
Jacob Price, "Economic Function and the Growth of American
Port Towns in the Eighteenth Century" Perspectives in
American History 8 (1974), pp. 123-86.
Week 3 (1/23-25): Settlement and Development of the New England
Colonies
Christopher Clark, "Household Economy, Market Exchange and
the Rise of Capitalism in the Connecticut Valley, 1800-1860"
Journal of Social History 13 (1979): 169-89.
Winifred B. Rothenberg, From Market Places to a Market
Economy, ch. 4, pp. 80-111.
Assignment 1 due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, January 23.
Week 4 (1/30-2/1): Indentured Servitude, Slavery, and the Southern
Colonies
Readings: Edmund Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom
(Norton 1975) chs. 6 and 15, pp.
108-130, 295-315.
David Galenson, White Servitude in the Colonial Labor Market:
An Economic Analysis (Cambridge 1981) ch. 9, pp. 141-168.
Week 5 (2/6-8): Economics of the American Revolution and the
Constitution
Readings: Larry Sawers "The Navigation Acts Revisited,"
Economic History Review, XLV:2 May 1992,
pp. 262-284.
E. James Ferguson "The Nationalists of 1781-1783 and the
Economic Interpretation of the Constitution" Journal of
American History 56 (1969), pp. 241-261.
Robert A. McGuire and Robert L. Ohsfeldt "Economic Interests
and the American Constitution: A Quantitative Rehabilitation
of Charles A. Beard" Journal of Economic History XLIV:2
(1984), pp. 509-519.
Assignment 2 due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 6 (ecb
students only).
Week 6 (2/13-15): Early Industrialization in New England
Readings:
Kenneth Sokoloff "Invention, Innovation and Manufacturing Productivity
Growth in the
Antebellum Northeast," in Robert Gallman and John Wallis
American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the
Civil War (Chicago 1992), pp. 345-378.
Week 7 (2/20-22): The State and Economic Development in the Ante Bellum
Period
Readings: Harry Scheiber "Property Law, Expropriation, and
Resource Allocation by Government:
The United States 1789-1910" Journal of Economic History 33
(1973) 232-51.
Naomi Lamoreaux, "Banks, Kinship, and Economic Development:
The New England Case," Journal of Economic History 46 (1986)
647-68.
Assignment 3 due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 20.
Week 8 (2/27): Economic Structure of the Cotton South
Readings: Gavin
Wright, The Political Economic of the Cotton South (Norton 1978), chs.
2-4, pp. 10-
127.
This material will NOT be covered on the midterm exam.
(2/29): MIDTERM EXAM
Week 9 (3/12-14): The South After Slavery
Readings: Gavin Wright, Old
South, New South: Revolutions in the Southern Economy since the Civil
War, ch. 2 pp. 17-50.
Lacy K. Ford, "Rednecks and Merchants: Economic Development
and Social Tensions in the South Carolina Upcountry,
1865-1900" Journal of American History 71:2 (1984), pp.
294-318.
Week 10 (3/19-21): Commercial Agriculture in the American Midwest
Readings: Jeremy Atack and Fred Bateman, "Yeoman Farming: Antebellum
America's Other
'Peculiar Institution'" in Lou Ferleger (ed.) Agriculture and
National Development (Iowa State University Press 1990), pp.
25-51.
Anne Mayhew, "A Reappraisal of the Causes of Farm Protest in
the United States, 1870- 1900" Journal of Economic History 32
(1972), pp. 464-75.
Assignment 4 due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, March 19 (ecb
students only).
Week 11 (3/26-28): The Second Industrial Revolution and the Rise of the
Large Corporation
Readings: Naomi Lamoreaux, The Great Merger Movement
in American Business, 1895-1904
(Cambridge 1985), chs. 2 and 4, pp. 14-45 and 87-117.
Charles McCurdy, "American Law and the Marketing Structure of
the Large Corporation," Journal of Economic History (Sept.
1978), pp. 631-649.
Brian Page and Richard Walker, "From Settlement to Fordism:
The Agro-Industrial Revolution in the American Midwest"
Economic Geography 67:4 (1991), pp. 281-315.
Week 12 (4/2-4): Progressive Legislation and the Emergence of the New
Industrial State
Readings: Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism:
A Reinterpretation of American History, 1900-
1916, chs. 6 and 9, pp. 139-158 and 217-254.
Naomi Lamoreaux, Great Merger Movement ch. 6, pp. 159-186.
Assignment 5 due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, April 2.
Week 13 (4/9-11): The Great Depression and the New Deal
Readings:
Michael Bernstein, The Great Depression (Cambridge University Press
1987) Introduction,
chs. 1, pp. 1-40.
Charles Kindleberger, The World in Depression, ch. 14, pp.
291-308.
Week 14 (4/17-19, 4/23): Post World War II Economic Growth
Readings:
Stephen Marglin, "Lessons of the Golden Age: An Overview" in Marglin
and J. B. Schor,
eds. The Golden Age of Capitalism (Oxford 1990), pp. 1-38.
Carol E. Heim, "City-Building and the State: Spatial Patterns
in the U.S. in the Twentieth Century" unpublished paper.
Assignment 6 due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, April 17 (ecb
students only).
FINAL EXAM: April 30 7:30 - 9:30 pm
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* Margaret Levenstein MaggieL@umich.edu *
* Department of Economics *
* 205 Lorch Hall (313)764-5274 *
* University of Michigan *
* Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1220 FAX (313)764-2769 *
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