United States Business History

Catalog description

Designed especially for non-History majors, this course takes a broad view of the term business by tracing the ways that private enterprises have shaped U.S. history from the colonial era to the present. We’ll explore critical developments in how businesses are organized, and what activities they have engaged in (i.e., trade, manufacturing, transportation, retail, and finance). At the same time, we’ll investigate the contentious debates among workers, managers, owners, and consumers about what role enterprise should play in society.