Semester Summary

In the past few months, I have gained further insight into what the American business looked like at the start of the nation and how it revolutionized the business today. Although I had already collected the knoledge of the topics taught in class from my previous classes, what I enjoyed particularly in this class was that i was able to explore more on some of my favorite time periods and I was able to connect the dots of the knowledge I had from my macroeconomics class and my Black history class. We start by learning about slavery and its contribution to early capitalism in the United States. Throughout each period, we continue to redefine what capitalism means and how it is interpreted in different periods. Since the south depended on slavery for cash crops, the north was expanding Indsutrilization and creating revolutionary machinery that eventually gave them an upper hand during the civil war. Right after the civil war, the south experienced the reconstruction era and the start of the gilded age came right after. During the gilded age, we can see the life of both the super-rich and the super poor. While we have railroads millionaires and real estate moguls on the rise, workers working in the manufacturing factories start to experience the harsh conditions and the unfair benefits received by employers. Jumping forward a couple of years later we then explore the roaring twenties. A time when the nation felt revived after going through a war. I believe that without the great depression and the great market crash the new deal created by FDR wouldn’t have happened. To this day we are still able to receive the benefits that the new deal had offered.
What I have noticed and found surprising was that after every obstacle the nation experiences such as a market fall or a war, the country is pushed in a different direction and lifted economically. . After WW1 the roaring 20s began, after the great depression the start of ww2 began which brought more jobs. After WW2 the era of consumption and consumer culture began. Learning more about the history of business and economics is important for one to know because we are learning about past mistakes and important events that outlined the decisions made today at the government level and in our everyday life. This class gave me the resources and the knowledge to understand more about business history. A part of history I didn’t further look into until taking this class.