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Academic Year 2005/2006
The Transition to Capitalism in America, 1700-1880
AMST 365 SP
This course examines the genesis and evolution of capitalism in the United States prior to 1900. We will begin with an introduction to the classical theorists and to the foundational debates on the historical emergence
of capitalism in Europe. However, the main aim of this course is to explore various dimensions of the prolonged, uneven, and often contested process by which capitalist social relations transformed preindustrial
American
society. Our object of critique, here, is not a purely "economic" system, but rather a constellation of values, institutions, and social relations.
MAJOR READINGS
Jeanne Boydston, HOME AND WORK: HOUSEWORK, WAGES, AND THE IDEOLOGY OF LABOR IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC (Oxford UP, 1990)
Christopher Clark, THE ROOTS OF RURAL CAPITALISM: WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, 1790-1860 (Cornell UP,
1990)
Elizabeth
Fox-Genovese, WITHIN THE PLANTATION HOUSEHOLD: BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN OF THE OLD SOUTH (University of North Carolina Press, 1988)
Paul A. Gilje, WAGES OF INDEPENDENCE: CAPITALISM IN THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC
(Madison House, 1997)
Marcus Red
iker, BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA: MERCHANT SEAMEN, PIRATES, AND THE ANGLO-AMERICAN MARITIME WORLD, 1700-1750 (Cambridge UP, 1987)
Eric R. Wolf, EUROPE AND THE PEOPLE WIHTOUT HISTORY (University of
California Press, 1982)
Ellen M
eiksins Wood, THE ORIGIN OF CAPITALISM: A LONGER VIEW (Verso, 2002)
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
To be announced.
COURSE FORMAT:
Lecture
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level:
UGRD
Credit:
1
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS AMST
Grading Mode:
Graded
Prerequisites:
NONE
Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-30-2006
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459