Course Description
Examination of the history of American business and entrepreneurship in the United States from the colonial era to the present. Topics covered include the history of the corporation, the evolution of managerial practices, business relations with government and labor, business and technology, as well as business and the law.
Athena Title
History of American Business
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is designed to introduce students to the history of American business and free enterprise. It covers the period from the time of the first settlements in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through the first and second industrial revolutions of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, and then on to revolutions in business that have taken place in the last century. While primarily focused on the United States, the course will frame domestic developments within a larger, global framework. A principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course is particularly geared to prepare students contemplating a career in business as well as allied fields – consulting, corporate law, marketing, advertising, finance, and public policy – to appreciate the rich history of American business in this country. Students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically, many drawn from Blaszczyk and Scranton, Major Problems in American Business History. 2. develop skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers. 4. apply business history to current debates over the future direction of American business, innovation, business regulation, and American competitiveness in the global economy.
Topical Outline
This course is divided into five sections: Section One examines the changing nature of business and free enterprise in the colonial era through the early nineteenth century, with a focus on how patterns of immigration, the legal structure (particular with the ratification of the Constitution), and the adoption of the corporate form fostered business in the United States Section Two surveys the first and second industrial revolutions of the nineteenth century, ranging from the first stirring of technological innovation in the northeast to the explosive growth of technical innovation that turned the United States into the largest economy in the world by the 1870s. Section Three reviews at some of the problems that business faced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, from ruinous competition to monopolistic practices to growing calls for reform. This section of the course also examines labor relations and the rise of significant, national regulations governing business. Section Four looks at the apotheosis of business in the 1920s, its tumultuous relationship to the federal government during the New Deal, and its redemption during World War II, when it helped turn the United States into the most powerful military power on the planet. Section Five contemplates the profound transformations in business in the postwar era. Topics covered include postwar prosperity, overseas markets during the Cold War, deindustrialization, the rise of the service economy, and what is often called the third industrial revolution: the rise of computing and other high-tech industries.
Syllabus