Welcome
For a brief overview of History 247 this semester, read on. For detailed information, click on the links on the left. As you can tell, this syllabus site is a work in progress. I will make substantial improvements to its appearance and functionality over the course of the semester -- watch this space as the site unfolds.
Source: Earliest known photo of Wall Street, Museum of American Financial History.
Why study business history?
What could be a more exciting time to study American business history than the present? Everything -- from financial markets, global trade flows, and work relations to international competitiveness, consumer behavior, and government regulation -- seems to be in turmoil and (perhaps) in the throes of change. History cannot be used to predict the future (alas), but understanding the historical processes by which we arrived at our current condition will aid in evaluating the changes going on around us today.
Themes
This survey is structured around three broad and persistent themes in American business history:
- the development of a distinctive American version of capitalism (with some comparison with other variants of capitalism);
- the critical, though changing, role that politics (broadly construed) has played in shaping American business history
- American business as a social world: who participates in American business and under what terms?
The assigned readings and writing assignments are all designed to develop your analytical skills as we explores these themes in business history.
©2008 Colleen A. Dunlavy