Economics 375

Economic History of the United States

Fall 1999

Updated 12/5/99

Readings

Books available at bookstore and in the Reserve Book Room.

  1. Jeremy Atack and Peter Passell, A New View of Economic History, 2nd Edition (must buy)
  2. Thomas Sowell, Ethnic America (on reserve)
  3. Robert Fogel, Without Consent or Contract, The Rise and Fall of American Slavery (must buy)
  4. Carlos Cippola, The Economic History of World Population, 7th Edition (on reserve)
  5. William McNeil, Plagues and Peoples, Chapter 5 (on reserve)
  6. Robert Higgs, Crisis and Leviathan, Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government. (on reserve)
  7. Paul Johnson, A History of the American People (must buy)

Books available online.

  1. Peter George, Emergence of Industrial America (on reserve)
  2. Roger Ransom and Richard Sutch, One Kind of Freedom, The Economic Consequences of Emancipation (on reserve)

Journal Articles available online.

  1. Kenneth Ng and Nancy Virts, The Black-White Income Gap in 1880 
  2. Kenneth Ng and Nancy Virts, The Value of Freedom
  3. Robert William Fogel, New Sources and New Techniques for the Study of Secular Trends in Nutritional Status, Health, Mortality and the Process of Aging
  4. Robert William Fogel, Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy
  5. Paul A. David, "The Growth of Real Product in the United States Before 1840: New Evidence, Controlled Conjectures"
  6. Robert William Fogel, Nutrition and the Decline in Mortality since 1700: Some Preliminary Findings
  7. Claudia Goldin and Frank Lewis, The Economic Cost of the American Civil War: Estimates and Implications, Journal of Economic History, June 1975.
  8. Claudia Goldin. The Economics of Emancipation, Journal of Economic History, March 1973.
  9. Richard Sutch, "The Treatment Received by American Slaves: A Critical Review of the Evidence Presented in Time on the Cross.'

Recreational Reading (related to class but not required)

  1. John Keegan, The Face of Battle, A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme (on reserve)
  2. David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest (on reserve)

Course Outline

1. Economic Growth

  1. Emergence of Industrial America, Chapters 1 and 2
  2. Atack and Passel, A New Economic View of American History, Chapter 1.
  3. Carlos Cippola, The Economic History of World Population, 7th Edition
  4. Recreational Readings: John Keegan, The Face of Battle, A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme, David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest.

2. The Increase in Life Expectancy

  1. Atack and Passel, A New Economic View of American History, Chapter 8.
  2. Robert William Fogel, Nutrition and the Decline in Mortality since 1700: Some Preliminary Findings
  3. Robert William Fogel, New Sources and New Techniques for the Study of Secular Trends in Nutritional Status, Health, Mortality and the Process of Aging
  4. Robert William Fogel, Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy

3. The Economics of the Slavery

  1. Robert Fogel, Without Consent or Contract
  2. Richard Sutch, The Treatment Received by American Slaves: A Critical Review of the Evidence Presented in Time on the Cross
  3. Atack and Passell, A New Economic View of American History, Chapters 10, 11, and 12.
  4. William McNeil,Plagues and Peoples, Chapter 5.
  5. If you are a little weak on your American history read a quick primer on black history.  

4. The Civil War

  1. Atack and Passel, A New Economic View of American History, Chapter 13.
  2. Claudia Goldin and Frank Lewis, The Economic Cost of the American Civil War: Estimates and Implications.
  3. Claudia Goldin, The Economics of Emancipation.

Recreational Reading: Article about rifles used in the Civil War, John Keegan, The Face of Battle, A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme.

5. The Effect of Emancipation of Black Living Standards

  1. Roger Ransom and Richard Sutch, One Kind of Freedom, The Economic Consequences of Emancipation
  2. Kenneth Ng and Nancy Virts, The Value of Freedom
  3. Kenneth Ng and Nancy Virts, The Black-White Income Gap in 1880 
  4. Atack and Passell, Chapter 14

6. The Role of Immigration in American Economic Growth

  1. Thomas Sowell, Ethnic America
  2. Paul Johnson, Part 6.

7. The Growth of Government

  1. Robert Higgs, Crisis and Leviathan
  2. Paul Johnson, Part 7 and 8.