The Revolution, the Constitution, and the New Nation

Matson, Cathy; Engerman, Stanley L.; Gallman, Robert E.

doi:10.1017/chol9780521394420.010

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Upon the adoption of the United States Constitution the new Republic nurtured an ideology about the promotion of the common good and the control of one's economic destiny. 6 The means to promote and nurture this ideology would include education, especially higher education. It is interesting to note, however, that the Constitution makes no reference to responsibility for education: responsibility for education was abdicated to the states.…”

Section: Early Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Private Voluntary Support to Public Universities in the United States: An Early History

Cash

2003

Int J Educ Adv

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Recent trends in voluntary support of higher education indicate that public institutions are in greater competition for limited philanthropic resources with private institutions, at times blurring the distinction between public and private institutions, especially in the area of fund raising and institutional advancement. The question arises whether public institutions historically have relied on private voluntary support and how the pattern of support developed in response to the expanding requirements of these institutions over time. This study explores the early history of private voluntary support of public research universities in the United States from the time of the chartering of the first state university in 1785 through much of the antebellum period. This early history indicates that the first state universities, without a model for a type of institution free from sectarian control and reliant on the state for support, followed patterns of raising support established by the colonial colleges and relied on a combination of public and private support. These patterns provide the foundation for good practice in fund raising today.

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Section: Early Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the years between the Revolution and up to 1820, per capita incomes rose more slowly than in previous years; wage levels barely kept up with rises in the cost of living. 10 This was a period during which the economies of the various regions and locales of the country were not fully integrated into a solid national economy.…”

Section: Early Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Private Voluntary Support to Public Universities in the United States: An Early History

Cash

2003

Int J Educ Adv

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“…Mann's interdisciplinary approach provides new perspective on early-American debtor-creditor relations. Underlying the differing specialties of historians is the assumption that tensions between debtors and creditors reflected the cultural consciousness and institutional channels that ordered conflict as American republicanism displaced British Imperialism and as early capitalistmarket practices eroded mercantilism (McDonald 1985;McCusker 1996;Matson 1996;Vickers 1996;Breen 2004). Accordingly, Mann addresses the issue of whether a humane "moral economy" characterized Independence-era America by demonstrating that bankruptcy softened aggressive capitalistic conduct by relieving small (as well as large) debtors from the heaviest burden the market could bear.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, Mann addresses the issue of whether a humane "moral economy" characterized Independence-era America by demonstrating that bankruptcy softened aggressive capitalistic conduct by relieving small (as well as large) debtors from the heaviest burden the market could bear. Regarding the economic-legal costs and benefits of entrepreneurial risk taking, Mann demonstrates the centrality of bankruptcy to the credit system in sustaining the "middling" American social and political order, which in turn facilitated relatively easy entry into and exit from myriad small and large undertakings that prevailed throughout local credit networks as well as transatlantic mercantilism (Atak, Bateman, and Parker 2000; Blumin 2000;Breen 2004;Matson 1996). Mann connects these divergent credit systems to the contrasts between British and American bankruptcy law and culture, including the short-lived federal Bankruptcy Act of 1800.…”

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confidence: 99%

Debt Failure and the Development of American Capitalism: Bruce Mann's Pro-Debtor Republic

Freyer¹

2007

Law &Amp; Social Inquiry

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Following independence, Americans were unique in the degree to which they countenanced the failure to pay debts. Indeed, from Alexis de Tocqueville to contemporary historians, commentators agree that compared to those in other commercial countries, Americans possess a "strange indulgence" toward bankrupts (Balleisen 2001,13; Skeel2001). Bruce Mann explores the origins of this distinctive pro-debtor bankruptcy attitude that has persisted throughout American history. Examining the cultural consciousness and legalities of bankruptcy in the age of American Independence, he reveals a tension between the entrepreneur's narrow preoccupation with gain and a prevailing confidence that interpersonal relationships could sustain commercial credit (Tomlins and Mann 2001; Blumin 2000; Freyer 2000). Like other commercial peoples of the period, Revolutionary-era Americans identified bankruptcy with Christian precepts, defining it as a moral failing subject to criminal penalties. From Independence on, however, Americans increasingly employed legal rules governing market failure to promote risk taking throughout their economic system of mercantilism governed by public officials who set prices of goods and services, controlled market entry, limited the number offirms, and imposed quality standards. Even so, disputes about bankruptcy law exposed the cultural and

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The Revolutionary Transformation of American Merchant Networks: Carter and Wadsworth and Their World, 1775–1800

Cutterham¹

2016

Enterp. Soc.

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American merchant networks facilitated, and were in turn transformed by, the War for Independence. They also played a crucial role in the establishment of financial and political institutions in the new republic. John Carter (a.k.a. John Barker Church) and Jeremiah Wadsworth were among the foremost merchants and financiers of the Revolutionary era. This article follows their careers from the beginning of their wartime activities through to the end of the Federalist Era in 1800. It explains how they created and manipulated networks of supply and credit, and how they invested the proceeds of their success in the years after the war. Through this case study, the article demonstrates how wartime requirements reshaped merchant networks, not simply by increasing risk and encouraging retrenchment, but by creating influxes of credit and pressures for expansion. It argues that war led to increased inequality among merchants in terms of wealth and credit. Furthermore, this increased inequality impacted the nature of postwar finance and commerce. It shaped the economic and political structures of the new republic, in part through the agency of successful merchants like Carter and Wadsworth.

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The Revolution, the Constitution, and the New Nation

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Private Voluntary Support to Public Universities in the United States: An Early History

Private Voluntary Support to Public Universities in the United States: An Early History

Debt Failure and the Development of American Capitalism: Bruce Mann's Pro-Debtor Republic

The Revolutionary Transformation of American Merchant Networks: Carter and Wadsworth and Their World, 1775–1800

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