Month: February 2022

Theorizing and implementing a political and economic layout for a country impose a completely different set of obstacles. Mandell helps the reader visualize the landscape of a newly free nation and lay out the problems that America faced in building a nation throughout the late 16th and early 17th centuries. When freedom was first imposed on the British colonies of America, the wealth gap was initially minute, but as the country began to economically stabilize, those who helped in the war efforts and invested there capital and property into building this nation, quickly laid out the foundation for an aristocracy.  

For a nation built on equality and freedom, its citizens began to notice a trend throughout the country that began the fear of forming what their mother nation had implemented through the aristocracy. A group of rich and influential figures that controlled and influenced the lives of the many, largely stood against the beliefs of this young nation. The country took steps to prevent such adversities, but the course of action and the lengths of such policies hindered unity and created a rift between wealthy property owning citizens (mainly in the south) and skilled craftsmen and workers who didn’t rely on their property or inheritance (mainly in the north). As people began to question the definition of property and what would constitute as such the rift grew larger and the theoretical economic layout of the country faced adversities it would never recover from. Mandell emphasizes the creation of different classes throughout the country that leads to the political split within the nation.

Ultimately, Mandell shows how the country had begun a trend of economic inequality since the revolution through the owning of property and backing of wealthy individuals who helped build this nation through banking property development and manufacturing. As the country grew so did the disparities between the upper, middle and lower classes. Though wealth was never thought to be distributed equally the nation did implement actions to make opportunity equal or its facade atleast.

In Mandell’s Article, “Wealth and Power in the Early Republic,” there was a lot of focus on the balancing of powers in the nation and the importance of the common class. Mandell mainly talked about the emergence of America as a nation and the history behind its evolution. There were many influencing factors from nations that were involved and the trading that occurred in the nation. The colonies, just having been formed, had to scramble to create a solid nation where one factor would not overpower the other. In the process of doing so, there was a focus on creating equal distribution via the spreading of properties between all citizens. Viewing this in this article reinforced my knowledge of the concepts employed in nations across the world in world history.

In the French Revolution, one of the most famous lines was “Let them eat cake.” This was said by the Queen of the time, and it signified one of the biggest flaws of the nation at the time which incited the revolution in the first place, which was the negligence of the common class and the imbalance of power. While there was a clear example of this backfiring on the entire nation, Mandell’s article analyzing America’s state at the time confirmed for me how important this topic is. The common class is the backbone of society, yet in the French’s case it was almost entirely neglected. Most thinkers in America at the time of its independence recognized this flaw and pushed towards supporting the common class with property, which they believed would benefit the society as a whole. Keeping most moving parts relatively equal would help the nation grow, and while there were some disputes shown in Mandell’s article the general consensus was that the common class should be tended to. Any nation would fall to ruin without the common class and some semblance of balance. It was shown with the French, and reinforced in the founding of America.

In Walter A. Friedman’s American Business History: A Short Introduction  he traces the rise of business in the United States from the time of the arrival of the European Merchants in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries all the way to today’s large enterprises and businesses. Not only does Friedman talk about America’s rise to power through business, but he also writes about its culture and societies.

He starts off with the late 15^th Century and talks about the European Settlers’ desires to mine more and more from the land of the Americas and this jumpstarts capitalism in the New World. Friedman mentions the different settlements trading different goods, for example the French on the North found their land to be valuable in animal fur while Virginia colony was exposed to Tobacco by John Rolfe and began exporting it. These trades along with Companies such as the Virginia Company (1606), East India Company (1600) and Massachusetts Bay Company (1628) etc. began a new surge of commerce and trade.

The Way to Wealth (Friedman 13) stood out to me the most since I wasn’t aware that’s where the “American Dream” stemmed from. It is said that Benjamin Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth” (1758) says the way to achieve prosperity and wealth is by mastering in a trade and by working hard in it, and that this is the way out of poverty, and something that is still relevant, and applicable to this day. “Wastefulness and sloth” is still something that is considered today to be a root cause of poverty and lack of success, and his famous “time is money” is a phrase still used routinely today. It also made me think how even though Americans were against inherited aristocracy, it’s still a human desire to want to pass on your wealth and accomplishments on to your next generations.

Throughout these Chapters, Friedman stresses on the exports and imports of the United States and how it began to shape the economy to become what it is today. Regardless of the challenges at the time, capitalism helped carve America into the Global Powerhouse it is today.  From Farmers in the South to the merchants in the East, all had one goal, establishing themselves and their families in the New World.

While reading American Business History: A Very Short Introduction by Walter A. Friedman, I noticed that the idea of trade was prevalent. Walter speaks on how the English colonizers paved the way of American business through trade. It then slowly created a strong network of Atlantic trade.

Friedman also speaks on the start of joint-stock companies in the United States. When English investors and colonizers failed in Roanoke, they created the idea of a joint-stock company. This idea is also still very popular today. It allows investors to share a risk and reward. If their company was to fail, they would not suffer as big of a loss as to if they were to start a company on their own. Some of them were successful and lasted centuries and others failed.

Friedman mentioned how the Hudson Bay Company that was established in 1670 entered the fur trade and that this company is still successfully operating today. I think it’s impressive how far along that companies like this have gone. It’s been through times when technology was not refined and now it’s in an era where technology is only going to get better.

Colonies like Virginia grew cash crops to survive. According to Friedman, in 1615, Virginia exported 2,300 pounds of tobacco and that number grew tenfold by 1617. Because of a drop in Native American populations and indentured servitude, tobacco growers turned to growing the transatlantic slave trade. Dutch traders brought the first documented slaves from Africa to Virginia. This shows how trade really transforms many aspects of business and survival.

Other areas like Massachusetts did not have Virginia’s climate for growing crops like tobacco, so they turned to other resources to create their own goods for trade and business. They pursued business in furs and salted fish. They also had a lot of wood for ships to transport their goods to the market. Shipbuilding soon became Massachusetts industry. I learned that the salted fish that New England produced helped feed the slave population in Barbados. Thus, indirectly linking them to the slave trade, as well.

Friedman really showed me how it really is human instinct to learn to survive and adapt to the situation they are in and how trade was a big part of how the colonizers adapted and survived in the Americas.

A Very Short Introduction by Walter Friedman

1. How does this reading add to your knowledge of the subject, or challenge or contradict what you previously thought about this aspect of American or global history?

As grade school students we start by learning about Christopher Columbus’s voyage through the ocean blue in the year 1492. Then we enrich our knowledge with the history of colonization and trade done in the early years of our nation. Although grade school history’s class curriculum is not intended to go in-depth on a particular event in history, the class is then just covered on the surface of important events. In a “Very short introduction” by Walter Friedman, the author tosses us with a meticulous analysis on Trade, Commerce, and early manufacture that become important pillars in the growth of our nation. European countries’ interest in the new world grew more as they saw the value in cash crops, trade, and the vast land occupied by their native neighbors. 

With the Era of mercantilism on the rise, Great Britain’s influence and control in their colonies led to more exports than imports. While cash crops like tobacco, cotton, and sugar were run in the south, the north led the whale oil and fur business. One of the ways North Englanders were able to increase their profit in the whale oil industry was by exploring technology. They realized that by increasing the chip size and attaching harpoons on the boat instead of log floats they were able to hold on and catch two whales at a time. Friedman says “By the 1930s, American fisheries were annually producing about 4.7 million gallons of fine sperm oil, 5.8 million gallons of regular whale oil, and 1.6 million pounds of whalebone” Pg 25. The fur trade industry also saw an increase in production as their connection with the natives, dutch, English, and French people from the north grew. By staying connected with native Americans they gained valuable geographical and trapping animals skills. 

As the country’s population increased, demand for production also went up. Early manufacturers started with textiles mills, firearms, and the clock business. When I went over chapter 3, I found it interesting that the clock business was known as a luxury good in the early years. Only producing 25 clocks a year for 25 dollars. Technology plays a huge influence in the growth of this country and as we see today technology has continued to influence us just as much as it did back then. 

 

One issue Mandell talks about in the reading is the clashes and contradictions between the enlightenment ideals of equality and the individual right to property, both of which were important revolutionary ideals that the fledgling nation struggled to deal with. “insisted that the country’s inhabitants “are more upon an equality in stature, and powers of body and mind, than the subjects of any government in Europe, and that New Englanders in particular “enjoy the most perfect equality.” (Mandell 83) People in the united states feared a new aristocracy that would dominate them as the British did, and this fear caused them to try and prevent an aristocracy from forming. What would allow a new aristocracy to form would be wealth and power typically in the form of property such as land and slaves, there were attempts to limit these potential aristocrats’ wealth through various means but doing so would interfere with their rights to control over the property of individuals. Other ways of introducing an aristocracy were through education or through the structuring of political systems to favor certain groups. This political favoring can be seen by denying suffrage to all, by having large voting districts letting those with more resources be able to win elections. I saw many parallels between this reading and contemporary issues, the prominent challenges the U.S faces that Mandell talks about in this reading are fear and equality and the proposed means to solve each. I specifically thought that the means he chooses to highlight was interesting as many of the pushes for equality come down to a battle between individual property rights and broader equality economically and politically. The U.S still faces challenges such as implementing taxes, gun rights, abortion, and LGBT issues. Moreover, something the reading and more generally the class has is the fear that was held by the post-revolutionary U.S, some of the measures talked about such as landholding limits seem extremely radical even for today and indicate the sense of fear drilled in from the colonial period into the nation’s psyche to cause them to act in such radical wasys. I think we still feel this national fear as can be seen by our last few wars and democratic rhetoric by politicians.

In the fourth chapter of the Mandell reading, “Wealth and Power in the Early Republic” there is great insight into the post-revolutionary period of America as a young nation. The detailed political and economic discussions of the time provide a deeper understanding into how this nation, which today is a world leader in terms of both politics and economics, developed in its early years.

One of the quotes that stood out to me in the chapter is “there is not under the whole canopy of heaven such another place as America, while free, for the encouragement of the poor, in their pursuits for obtaining comfortable livelihoods”(Mandell 81) which  I believe translates into what we call the “American Dream” today. From the very early days of the nation, an idea of individual freedom and social mobility was present. Perhaps at first only for white males, but eventually expanding to include more people in the American Dream.

There was an “equality of property” (Mandell 82) present in early America that gave its citizens a pride of enjoying freedom more than the “subjects of any government in Europe”(Mandell 83). Although this idea of equality of property seemed great to those who hoped for the rise of a more equal society, some of the elite felt threatened by this idea. Political power and wealth were interlinked and the aristocrats were not ready to give up that power. There were many debates over whether the ability to vote should remain restricted so only property owners of a certain level could vote. Another issue that came up was the elite benefiting from war debt that would eventually create even more inequality and later led to Shays’s Rebellion.
From what is highlighted in this chapter, it seems America has always had an idea of freedom and equality but the reality has always fallen short. From the very early days to modern America, there seems to be an ever present division between the wealthy elite and the rest of the population as “Benjamin Lincoln Jr., articulated “the many who labored for a living and the few who lived on the labor of others”(Mandell 86).

David Yusupov

HIS 3410

Spring 2022

Professor Griffin

Response #1

Trade is an important function of a country’s economy. People have been trading in every system imaginable from simple bartering, to mercantilism, to socialism,  all the way to modern day capitalism. Unfortunately though, throughout history, countries have engaged in rather barbarous or unethical methods to gain resources to trade with. Walter Friedman’s American Business History paints a picture of the suffering that native populations went through because of colonization. What was interesting was the figures, for example in the 15th century there were 50 to 100 million natives living in America, by 1800 though there were only 600,000 Native Americans lived throughout the U.S.A. and Canada. This was very informative because I know that the population has decreased however I did not know to what extent.

Another thing that I was not aware of was trading companies like the Muscovy Company. I found this interesting because I was not aware that Russia was involved with New World trading except for the fact that I knew that they had colonized Alaska. What also was interesting to me was that an American company was involved in fur trading, I was always under the assumption that that was exclusively a French dominated trade. 

One question I had while reading this was with regards to the printing press and its role in the American War for Independence. I understand that the press frequently published pro-patriot material, however I wish that the author had mentioned what the British may or may not have done to squash these pieces from circulating, after all wouldn’t that be a natural reaction given that the British would not want the colonists to secede? 

An event that stuck out to me was the immigration from England to the colonies beginning with the 7 years war. This stuck out to me because I connected it with what I know about men like Thomas Jefferson and his non-interventionist foreign policy. Many immigrated to the colonies to escape the constant wars of Europe and the framers had that in mind when they had constructed the constitution and their approaches to foreign policy. I also found the demographics that arrived, specifically the Germans. The reason why the Germans are interesting is that as far as I know, life in Germany was rather good for the most part. I cannot imagine that a German/Austrian would wish to trade that for the agrarian lifestyle of America.

Prompt: What was the historic transformation, or change over time, that the author is describing in the reading? According to the historian, why and how did this change take place? Did these changes take place gradually or rapidly, and how did they affect some of the people involved?

 

Taking a look at the reading from Rosenthal’s “Accounting for Slavery” the two chapters discuss the importance of record-keeping and its crucial role in our now modern economy. As Rosenthal explains “without this information, they risked losing their crop”(Rosenthal 16), the introduction of record-keeping proves to have paid its dividends at the time and continued to be used as a means of progressing the newly established system of economics even centuries later. 

The technique of record-keeping was used by Attornies, Overseers, and Bookkeepers who were white workers who were very few and were clearly outnumbered in comparison to the people of color who were forced to work. Their job as workers were to keep track of the slaves who were on the plantations as well as keep track of who was in what section of the plantation. For the white workers, their role of record-keeping was crucial as this information was to be relayed to their supervisors, and them doing their job correctly allowed for possible promotions which meant economic mobility. The graphs that are provided gave a more in-depth look as to what the record-keeping was actually like and shows the complexity of how records were kept back in the 1700s-1800s. As Rosenthal continues she starts to show the formation of this slave society inside the plantation life as there is mention of enslaved managers who would watch over other slaves. This would be reserved for elders or ill-abled people who could not perform as well as others who were healthy. By providing slaves with other means of work, slaveowners maximized profits and would also have them record information that bookkeepers would not always be able to keep track of. There would be incentives that would be used to make sure that their work was the very best and prevent disobedience but this did not stop rebellion from ensuing. The reports done from the enslaved managers would be used to fill the reports for higher-ups and this becomes a cycle where there is a line of command formed that stems from the slaves and is able to make its way all the way up to the attornies which were second in command to the actual slaveowners.

 A question that comes to mind during this reading stems from a section where Rosenthal mentions that since the slaveowners were not always present they would give consent to the attornies to take executive actions as they oversaw day-to-day life on the plantation fields. If this was the case then were there instances where the actions done by an attorney did not justify the result earned? This question stems from the thought that since attornies were given power from the hierarchy formed if there are instances where they over abused their power or if there was there a system that would keep them in check. 

The chapter continues and we see a transformation of how this accountability for the workers adapts into a newer and more concise version than previously seen. There is a very brief mention that alludes to the slaves being punished for wanting to retaliate but when this did occur Rosenthal quotes Trevor Burnard to writing that it accredited the plantation system and that it was “the glue that held the plantation system together”(Rosenthal 39).  off of slave brutality and refocusing into accountability the debut of pre-printed paper becomes a huge part of plantation life as well as industrialization that starts to form in the 1800s. Its use was not only limited to plantations but also was able to be used by industrialist firms. This use of pre-printed paper not only allowed for information to be presented concisely but it allowed for data to be sent with very little text proved to be very insightful. Rosenthal’s work so far goes in-depth into the plantation society and provides us information from an entirely new perspective as since this course is based on business history shows the correlation of how slavery and workers from the plantation helped promote the current economy we have today. 

The United States has existed for 244 years, at first glance that seems like an eternity, the average lifespan is nowhere near that, and no one is contemporary America can even remember the early 20th century, let alone the formation of America. Recorded human history goes much farther than the lifespan of America and so it can be concluded that this is a relatively new country. 

In the reading “Wealth and Power in the Early Republic”, a young nation struggling with ambitions of a brighter future and traditions of the past is portrayed. When examining human history, one common theme can be observed, and that is the ruling by the few over the many. More specifically, societies organized themselves time after time by way of centralized power by small elitist groups over the much larger populations. Monarchies and dictatorships who were often brutal were the norm for many centuries. The oppression of the lower classes wasn’t only done by force, but also through low expectations. The aristocracies ruled by self-proclaimed superiority and strongly propagated a culture of God given rights to elitism. 

This is the struggle that America was faced with in its early stages and there were many proponents of the old ways of governance as well as numerous others who spoke about the ideological revolution which was the importance and strength of the individual. The idea that the individual could achieve the highest accomplishments through hard work and determination and that equality of opportunity was in this case, the god given gift and right. 

The chapter explains various historical events in order to give an in-depth perspective into this struggle. There are many quotes to illustrate both philosophies, but these are well encapsulating. “People think, act and speak here precisely as it prompts them… every man expects at one time or another to be on a footing with his rich neighbor” (Mandell, P.79). This quote by Johann Schoepf provides an outsider view into the revolutionary thinking in America at the time. It really shows the strong sentiments of equality of opportunity and the confidence of the individual. The fact that this surprised Johann is a testament to how new this type of thinking was at the time. 

This quote, although not explicitly advocating for an elitist and aristocratic government, shows the thinking that many had at the time in terms of their belief in the old way of governance. “Almighty god has established an order in human affairs, reflected in differences in wealth that resulted from ability, industry, inheritance and god’s favor, and Americans needed to respect that arrangement in order to achieve political happiness” (Mandell, p.84). Nicholas Collin doesn’t overwhelmingly propose rule by the few elites, rather he expresses some truths which are that some people are born with certain skills and other various advantages that would benefit them and bring them in a better socioeconomic situation than others but given the context and the manner in which this is said, it is spoken in an oppressive and condescending way that mimics those feelings of low expectations elitists historically held, as previously mentioned. 

It is important to distinguish theory from reality. This response is mostly an examination of the revolutionary thinking at the time in America, rather than what really took place. It was a new way of thinking that laid the foundation for contemporary society, not only in America but in the Western world as a whole.