Pre-Industrial and Early Industrial Development

Pre Industrial and Early Industrial Development

The major theme of the reading entitled "The United States Economy in 1790" is the development of the American economy in this particular year and those which directly preceded them. The author writes at length about the difficulties that the relatively new nation incurred while attempting to stabilize itself financially. It is worth noting that the author also explicates the fact that the relative novelty of the country, and the political instability that characterized its early years, was a significant contributing factor to this theme. The political instability resulted in an economic one which was evinced in a number of different ways.

The author provides a number of different types of evidence to support the aforementioned theme. He issues first hand quotes from notable luminaries (including Thomas Jefferson and the Earl of Sheffield) to reinforce his assertion that the U.S. had little room to expand its foreign trade due to high "duties" (Author 21) or taxes from foreign countries, as well as because of trade prohibitions which favored other countries. Domestically, the country was plagued by the fact that its rural population was an insignificant contributor to the country's economic market. Other pieces of evidence include the fact that the country had high costs of labor and capital, which undermined the fact that there were few domestic banks engaging in international finance to substantially assuage this situation.

The logical implications of this theme for the concept of development are that the country would have to take action to improve its economic lot. This action would eventually include industrialization and shifting the focus of its populace from a rural to an urban one to bolster the domestic market. Additionally, it would need to improve its foreign standing by increasing trade and adopting mercantile practices of its own to earn a favorable balance.

The major theme of the reading entitled "The Economy 1815-160 -- An Overview" is the general prosperity that the American economy enjoyed between the aftermath of the War of 1812 and the couple of years preceding the Civil War. This prosperity helped to fund the development of the country at this time. This development not only included flushing out new land and territories in parts of "Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi" (Author 73) and others in the country's southern region, but also those that abounded in the western region.