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History of Capitalism in Early America


Course Description

Survey of the cultural and social history of capitalism from initial settlement through Reconstruction. Topics include class formation, religion and capitalism, politics and development, capitalists and con men and women, economic development, money and rise of the financial system, and free labor systems and slavery.


Athena Title

US Capitalism to 1877


Semester Course Offered

Offered every year.


Grading System

A - F (Traditional)


Course Objectives

Students will come away with a nuanced understanding of roots of American capitalism. It will emphasize the social and cultural causes of economic development. Students will read primary sources, such as biographies, novel, short stories, and political tracts as well as early works of political economy. As well, students will learn research skills and hone their writing skills.


Topical Outline

Settlement and colonization, origins of slavery and free labor, urban development, mercantilism and capitalism, revolution and economic politics, the transportation revolution, the market revolution, the communications revolution, industrialization, urbanization, slavery and abolitionism, and the economics of the Civil War and Reconstruction.


Syllabus