EconAir

  PRECONDITIONS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN AMERICA   In the Beginning Before industrialization began in the 1820s, there was a set of political institutions and cultural values, mostly inherited from England, that encouraged profit-seeking individuals to start new companies.  They included fairly secure property rights, increasing legal limits on monopolies, an independent judiciary that enforced contracts, emphasis on individual rights rather than social obligations, patents, tolerance of markets, and less government regulation of markets than in the past.  Much of this was stated or implied in the Constitution; an activist Supreme Court under John Marshall extended these trends. The Constitution also helped to create a national market and reduce transaction costs by mandating a national currency and limiting states’ ability to make economic policy that favored their own residents.   What America did not inherit from England was important. U...

  The Causes of the American Revolution How the Colonials Won Creating a New Nation-State   Introduction History is irony. Things turn out differently than expected or planned, there are unintended consequences, a short-run success can be the source of a long-run failure.   The French and Indian War (1755-1761) is an example. England, with help from American militias, won the war. But, as a consequence of the war, England changed its policies towards its American colony. And lost America.   The loss of the American colonies was more important than the gain of Canada.   The French and Indian War was part of a global conflict between England and France. After England’s victory in North America, they made bad decisions affecting their American colonies. From being an ally, Americans became increasingly angry at English policies. The result was that only 12 years after the official end of the French and Indian War (1763), Americans rose up in revolt against English ...

  Earliest known photograph of slaves and cotton, around 1850 Brigit Katz, Smithsonian Magazine, December 6, 2019 A New Nation, America from 1789 to 1860   If you study American history from 1789 to 1860 (just before the start of the Civil War), the political history is very complicated. But remember what caused most of this political conflict and uneasy compromises - the dynamic changes in the underlying economy. Two in particular – the spectacular increase in slave-produced cotton and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. They were related.   What is the Industrial Revolution? At its heart it is power-driven metal machinery producing huge quantities of goods. At first, the power was supplied by steam engines and water wheels. Later, in the 20 th  century, electricity. All of this used huge amounts of fossil fuels – first coal, later oil and natural gas were added.   A trend that continued from colonial times – the unusual population growth of America. Th...