This course will study the political economy of Early America, from the British Settlement to c. 1820. In particular, we will explore the mechanisms behind the economic growth of the British colonies, the economic forces behind the Revolution, the consequences of the Revolution, the political economy of the constitutional convention and ratification, the role of SCOTUS in creating a national market, and the opposing Hamilton-Jefferson views of an American economy.
We will close by looking at how the Early Republic transitions into the Age of Jackson. Early America is a fascinating and rich historical period, and we will need to skip many issues of interest. Nevertheless, we hope to provide you with a good overview of how a group of small peripheral colonies created an institutional arrangement that allowed them to become the largest economy in the world in less than two centuries.
Most Recent Syllabus (Here)
- Lecture Notes 1: Introduction
- Lecture Notes 2: Pre-Columbian America
- Lecture Notes 3: The Atlantic World
- Lecture Notes 4: The Regional Economies of Colonial America
- Lecture Notes 5: Mercantilism and the Navigation Acts
- Lecture Notes 6: Slavery and the American Colonization
- Lecture Notes 7: The Road to Independence I: Interpretations
- Lecture Notes 8: The Road to Independence II: Imperial Reforms and Constitutional Conflicts
- Lecture Notes 9: The Economic of the Revolution
- Lecture Notes 10: The Political Economy of the Constitution
- Lecture Notes 11: Hamilton's Debt Program
- Lecture Notes 12: Hamilton's First Bank of the United States
- Lecture Notes 13: Infant Industries
- Lecture Notes 14: John Marshall and the U.S. Economy
- Lecture Notes 15: Jeffersonian Alternatives
- Lecture Notes 16: Toward the Age of Jackson
- Lecture Notes 17: Slavery Revived