READINGS TO REVIEW

These are the readings we tended to spend most time on in class, and which carry the main points of the debates we have discussed.  All of our discussion forums in Blackboard are still up (and active) to help you review.

I. Mercantilism vs. Markets

3. Readings on Mercantilism, from Callender (authors' names in footnotes)
c. Bernard, Select Letters on the Trade and Government of America, 1764.
e. Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Bk. IV, ch. vii, 1776.

4. Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Bk, IV, ch. ii, 1776 (1909 ed.), pp. 348-369.

II. Economic Policy and the New Nation

4. Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, 1791, pp. 192-195, 204-219, 234-244  (Note: Not all pages are included here.)

III. Internal Improvements and Public Land Policy

4. Henry Clay, 1818, excerpts from Works of Clay, pp. 133-135.

IV. Tariff Policy

2. Selections from Callender on the tariff debate
b. Letter from Jefferson to Austin, 1816.
f. Calhoun speech, 1816.
h. Webster speeches, 1824, 1846.
i. McDuffie speech, 1830, pp. 514-522

3.  House debate, 1824, from Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, pp. 724-729.

8. Protection or Free Trade for the United States of America?  1880
a. Dudley
b. Rawlins  

V. Suffrage

1. Harriet Martineau, “The Political Non-Existence of Women”, from Society in America (New York: Saunders & Otley, 1837).

7. Booker T. Washington, "Atlanta Address", 1895.

VI. Banking and Currency
     A. The Debate over a National Bank

3. Selections from MacDonald
d. Jackson's veto of the Bank bill, 1832.

4. Webster's reply to Jackson's veto, Register of Debates in Congress, 1832, pp. 1221-1230.

5. Discussion of banks from The Merchant’s Magazine, 1839 as it illustrates a model not unlike the Federal Reserve System which was adopted 75 years later.

     B. The Debate over Currency

8. William Jennings Bryan speech before the Democratic convention (the "Cross of Gold" speech), 1896, from The World's Best Orations, pp. 693-701.

VII. Regulation of Interstate Commerce

2. C. F. Adams, "The Government and the Railroad Corporations," North American Review, 1871, pp. 31-61.

3. Comments in The Nation on railroads, 1873
a. "The Causes of the Farmers' Discontent".

4   Wayland & Chapin, Elements of Political Economy, 1886, Ch. XXIV, "Railway Corporations", pp. 386-395.

5.  The Riddle of the Sphinx, N. Ashby, Chapter 3.

VIII. The Trusts and Antitrust Policy

1. R. T. Ely, "The Tariff and Trusts--Expenditures for Internal Improvements," from Shaw, ed., The National Revenues, 1888, pp. 56-67.

2. Selections from The New York Times, 1887 and 1888.

3. Andrew Carnegie, "The Bugaboo of Trusts," North American Review, v. 148, no. 387 (Feb. 1889), pp. 141-150.

4. Andrew Carnegie, "Wealth," North American Review, v. 148, no. 391 (June 1889), pp. 653-664.

8. J. B. Clark, "How to Regulate the Trusts," from Hart, v. IV, pp. 641-644.

ECONOMICS

In addition to the readings listed above, you should review the various applications of economics to historical policy problems, including but not limited to gains from trade (trading corn or wool), supply and demand and cost curves (especially as applied to tariff problems, agriculture in the 1880s and 90s, and the evolution of trusts), incidence of the burden of a tax (hats vs. cotton), fractional reserve banking, the workings of a Bank of Issue (like the Federal Reserve Bank),  the equation of exchange (MV=PY), T-accounts, natural monopoly, monopoly and monopsony, externalities and public goods, market failure.

Another area to consider is the relevance of historical debates to the debates today.  Think about how the social and economic principles of political parties have remained constant over the history of the nation, and how they have evolved.

These are all topics which have been discussed in class.  You may wish to consult the powerpoint presentations used in class, and if you have additional questions, your introductory economics or history textbooks (or the online equivalents)

FORMAT OF THE FINAL EXAM

The exam will be scheduled for two hours, but I certainly hope it does not take more than one.  The exam will consist of two parts.  The first part will be a quiz on the last five Trust readings (4-8).  It will be the same format as our other quizzes.  The second part will be several questions designed to test two things: (a) your understanding of some of the economic concepts covered in the class, and (b) your understanding of some of the general issues that have recurred in the different debates.   You will have choices in both parts of the exam.

There will be a review session, TBA.