American Economic Thought in the Seventeenth Century

¶ … American Economic Thought in the Seventeenth Century by Edgar AJ. Johnson. (New York: Russell & Russell, 1961). 202 p., (HB119.A2J6).

This book is a global look at what motivated colonization economically in the New World, and how American thought began to diverge from English commerce and economic thought. In the book, the author outlines several common economic and political concepts of pre-Revolutionary philosophy. Mainly, Johnson states political and personal beliefs were not inevitably separate things, but rather social structures dictated by one's political ties and perceptions. In other words, during these times, the most elevated position a person could hold was that of a politician. The basic concepts of the book include that the political structure reflected fundamental social structures, and the people were still largely under the influence of parliamentary representation, and the British Crown consistently oppressed them. Unfortunately, the end of the Revolution did not help matters. In fact, in many ways the Revolution created worse conditions for many of the minority creditors.

This author's thesis is quite clear from the beginning of the text. This is a general book about American economic thought and how it evolved during the 17th century, until it created dissention and deviance in the colonies. This book is an intelligent study of the outlook of the restless British colony and offers insight into the economic concepts that would eventually lead to the Revolutionary War. From the beginning, the colonies were defiant toward the remote British Crown. Perhaps the distance from the mother country made the early colonists courageous, and perhaps it was the yearning for self-rule. No matter the compelling reason, Johnson states from the beginning American colonists terribly displeased their British backers. Clearly, the American colonies refused to behave as the British felt they should. The British felt the sole reason for a colony was to provide greater wealth to the mother country. Clearly, this was not the same agenda the colonists faced.

Johnson notes exports quickly outpaced imports, and this created such a favorable balance that great wealth began to pour into the new colonies. The colonists utilized several practices to realize and preserve this favorable balance. It makes sense that imports would decrease if more of the goods consumed inside the country were being created inside the country. Therefore, the government encouraged the production of domestic goods by levying high taxes on imports rather than bringing them in from England.