ECONOMICS 205 / HISTORY 205:
History of American Economic Development

Prof. Lawrence H. White     lwhite@umsl.edu

Prerequisites: Economics 40 or 51

Required reading (we'll cover almost the entire book)
Gary M. Walton and Hugh Rockoff, History of the American Economy, 8th ed. (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1998). Abbreviated "WR" below.

Recommended reading (we'll use large parts of these books)
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Norton, 1999).
Jeffrey Hummel, Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men (Open Court, 1996).

All three books are available at the UMSL book store.

Course materials will be available online at mygateway.umsl.edu/courses. The web site contains key questions for each topic, outlines for topics 2 and 12, and practice exams.

Objectives
This course uses economic concepts to explain the historical development of the American economy. It correspondingly uses episodes in the historical development of the American economy to illustrate economic concepts. The lectures will give special emphasis to three themes: (1) the role of property rights, especially in land and labor; (2) the evolution of monetary institutions; and (3) the growth of government's role in the economy. We will spend a disproportionate amount of time on the Civil War.  The texts provide essential information. You will find it helpful to read the associated chapters (listed below) in advance of the lectures, but note that the texts do not cover everything that will be discussed in the lectures. Faithful class attendance and note-taking are therefore important.

Course requirements

• two midterm exams (dates to be announced)
• one paper, around 8 pages long (topic guidelines to be announced)
• one cumulative final exam, as scheduled by the University. (If you cannot make this date, drop the course now.)

Fine print: The following policies are stated as a matter of record: (1) Midterm exams will each be given only on the dates announced; no make-ups. If you miss a midterm exam for any reason, 20 percentage points will be added to the weight of your final. (Note well: Final exam percentage scores tend to be lower than midterm scores, which means that missing a midterm exam when you don't have to is not a wise strategy.) (2) Failure to take the final exam at the scheduled time will result in an exam score of zero, absent a certified medical or family emergency. (3) Performance on these exams and the paper will be the only basis for grading (no additional "extra credit" projects will be offered or accepted). Grades are not negotiable. (4) Exam-taking and term-paper-writing are governed by the UMSL's Student Code of Conduct. Academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism) will result is an F for the course. (5) No student may leave a midterm exam before 25 minutes have elapsed, or the final exam before 45 minutes have elapsed; no student may enter a midterm or final exam after anyone has left.
 

Course outline

1. Introduction: What Does Economics Tell Us About History?
WR, ch. 1

2. Why Did Europe Conquer Native America and Not the Reverse?
Diamond, chs. Prologue, 1, 3-8, 18;
Mygateway course web site, Notes on Native American economies

3. The Colonial Economies: Mercantilism and Trade
WR, chs. 2-5

4. Colonial Labor, Free and Unfree
WR, pp. 33-36; Hummel, pp. 9-11

5. Colonial Money
WR, pp. 79-89

6. Economic Factors in the American Revolution
WR, ch. 6

7. The Articles of Confederation versus the U. S. Constitution
WR, pp. 139-146, 462-464

8. Land, Fur, and Westward Expansion
WR, pp. 146-157, ch. 8

9. The Transportation Revolution: Roads, Canals, Railroads
WR, ch. 9

10. The Industrial Revolution in America
WR, chs. 10-11

11. Coinage, State Banking, and the Banks of the United States
WR, ch. 12
 

12. "Free Banking"
WR, pp. 274-75; Course web site, Notes on Free Banking

13. The Economics of Slavery in America
WR, pp. 279-294; Hummel, ch. 2

14. Economic Causes of the Civil War
WR, pp. 295-298; Hummel, pp. 11-29, chs. 3-4, 8

15. Civil War Finance and Mobilization
WR, pp. 303-307; Hummel, ch. 9, pp. 248-54

16. Economic Consequences of the Civil War
WR, pp. 307-324, Hummel, chs. 12-14

17. Post-bellum Agriculture
WR, ch. 15

18. Railroads and Growth
WR, ch. 16

19. Big Business and Antitrust
WR, ch. 17, pp. 449-456

20. Immigration and Labor
WR, ch. 18

21. "National Banking" and the Financial Panics
WR, ch. 19

22. The First World War: Finance and Mobilization
WR, ch. 21

23. Boom, Bust, and Federal Reserve Policy
WR, chs. 22, 23

24. The New Deal
WR, ch. 24

25. World War II
WR, ch. 25

26. Postwar Macroeconomics and Banking
WR, ch. 28

27. The Growth of Government in the Postwar Economy
WR, ch. 26

Final Exam