Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone here could point me in the direction of some readings or lectures on economic conditions in the 19th century in the USA. I’ve already listened to a bunch of lectures by Tom Woods, but I’d like more specifics regarding how much regulation there was, how much government intervention there was, et cetera.
Any help would be super awesome!
Here’s a short reading list:
Hughes, American Economic History
Higgs, The Transformation of the American Economy 1865-1914
Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism
Kolko, Railroads and Regulation
Fulsom, The Myth of the Robber barons
William Appleman Williams, Contours of American History
Olasky, Tragedy of American Compassion
Weinstein, The Corporate Ideal in the Liberal State
And you might want to listen to this lecture series by Rothbard:
Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to compile this list.
Niles’ Register contemporary
A history of the great american fortunes
America, before the revolution
As the debt of member States stood at the end of 1839—
$52,640,000 for banking !!! | $60,201,551; $42,871,084; $6,618,958; $8,474,684; $170,806,177 --this is more than what the war of 1812 cost
The white population of Arkansas in those days was 97,000, yet the government issued bonds ~$30 per person, gave them to private banks to bank on, and issue bank notes… (they could have just handed $30-worth of bonds to every man woman and child, and let them use bonds as currency; if providing currency was the excuse for the excercise…)
Indiana had 980,000 people living in it, and borrowed ~$12million; in 1841 N.M. Rothschild & Sons wrote to the President of the United States to please expedite a payment of $3.6million on behalf of Indiana and other prodigal States in their arrears
