Capitalism in American History

Catalog description

Carl Degler once asserted that America was born free, rich, and modern. The story is a bit more complicated – and fascinating – than that. This course will examine how America became all those things, following the sequential development of capitalism from the diverse experiences of the first colonizers through the Financial Crises of 2008. American events and developments will be contextualized by their global counterparts. Particular focus will be given to conceptions of the roles of markets, states, consumers, and capitalists.