MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE  

History 2024                                                                                       Fall, 2008
American Economic History                                                                Mr. Bowling
                                                                                                          D. Bonnet
                                                                                                           

Requirements:

1.   Attendance.
2.   Participation.
3.   Readings.
4.   Successful completion of three examinations.

Objectives Measured by the Examinations:

·        Factual knowledge of the historical essence of the subject via readings & lectures

·        Factual knowledge of the operation of economic concepts in history

·        Factual knowledge of the international dimensions of the subject

·        Comprehension of college-level monographs relevant to the subject

·        Practice of succinct written expression to demonstrate knowledge

·        Practice of essay-writing to demonstrate general comprehension of factual material backed up by  specifics, along with critical/analytical interpretation as to the “why” behind events, trends, and outcomes

Books:

*John Malsberger & James Marshall, eds., The American Economic History Reader; Documents &
     Readings  (New York, 2008).
Charles Slack, A Noble Obsession; Charles Goodyear's Race to Unlock the Greatest Industrial Secret
     of the Nineteenth Century (New York, 2002).
Maury Klein, The Genesis of Industrial America, 1870-1920  (Cambridge, 2008).
Meg Jacobs, Pocketbook Politics; Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century
     America  (Princeton, 2008).
Grace Palladino, Skilled Hands, Strong Spirits; A Century of Building Trades History (Ithaca, 2005).
Stephanie Pincetl, Transforming California; A Political History of Land Use & Development (Baltimore, 1999).
William D. Cohan, The Last Tycoons; The Secret History of Lazard Freres &
     Co. (New York, 2007). .

 Schedule:              Topics                                                Readings
Aug. 25-                Introduction                                       
   28                      Empire Building
Sept. 1                  L A B O R   D A Y
Sept. 4                  Colonial Trade & Trouble
                             The Hamiltonian Vision                        
Sept. 8-11              Land Policies & Development             
                              Legal Foundations                              
                              Early Industrialism
Sept. 15-18             Transportation Revolution                        Slack
                              Agricultural Productivity
Sept. 22                  Free vs. Slave Labor
                              Economic Effects of the Civil War                          

Sept. 25                 F I R S T   E X A M I N A T I O N

Sept. 29-                 Railway Age
   Oct. 2                  Morgan & Co.
Oct. 6-9                  Urbanism as a Way of Life
                               Captains of Industry
                               Labor Conflicts & Settlements                 Klein
Oct. 13                    C O L U M B U S   D A Y
Oct. 14-16               The Multi-Ethnic Labor Force
Oct. 20-23               Anti-trust & Merger Mania                       Jacobs
Oct. 27-30               Origins of the Federal Reserve System                    
                               Wartime Mobilization
                            
Nov.3                    S E C O N D    E X A M I N A T I ON

Nov. 6                      Consumerism, 1920s Style        
                                The Mystery of 1929, & After
                                What was "New" in the New Deal
Nov. 10-13               The Union Drive
                                Wartime Mobilization II          
                                The Keynesian Idea & its Critics                Palladino
Nov. 17-20               Postwar Labor Management Realignments
                                White Collar Organization Men
                                The Postwar Female Labor Force
Nov. 27                 T H A N K S G I V I N G
Nov.24                     The 1950s/60s Macroeconomy            
                                Unemployment/Inflation Concerns
                                The Great Society & its Critics
                                Nixonomics                                                 Pincetl
                                The Oil Shock & its Aftereffects
Dec. 1-4                   Capitalist Renaissance                                  Cohan
                                The Digital Age
                                Post-Industrialism: the Akron Story
                                The Post-Cold War Global Economy

                                
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