The Land of Enterprise

A Business History of the United States

Benjamin C. Waterhouse

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781476766652
• eBook ISBN:
  9781476766676
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Business History
• Index: Economics

This groundbreaking account of the development of American business from the colonial period to the present explains that the history of the United States can best be understood not as a search for freedom—but as a search for wealth and prosperity. The Land of Enterprise charts the development of American business from the colonial period to the present. It explores the nation's evolving economic, social, and political landscape by examining how different types of enterprising activities rose and fell, how new labor and production technologies supplanted old ones—and at what costs—and how Americans of all stripes responded to the tumultuous world of business. In particular, historian Benjamin Waterhouse highlights the changes in business practices, the development of different industries and sectors, and the complex relationship between business and national politics.From executives and bankers to farmers and sailors, from union leaders to politicians to slaves, business history is American history, and Waterhouse pays tribute to the unnamed millions who traded their labor (sometimes by choice, often not) or decided what products to consume (sometimes informed, often not). Their story includes those who fought against what they saw as an oppressive system of exploitation as well as those who defended free markets from any outside intervention. The Land of Enterprise is not only a comprehensive look into our past achievements, but offers clues as to how to confront the challenges of today's world: globalization, income inequality, and technological change.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Introduction: How Business Explains America
• 1. Conquest, Colonies, and Capitalism
• 2. The Business of Bondage
• 3. Factories Come to America
• 4. The Politics of Business in the Early Republic
• 5. Business Gets Big
• 6. Warring with the Octopus—Workers, Farmers, and Trustbusters
• 7. The Dawn of Modern Life
• 8. From Roosevelt to Roosevelt: Business and the Modern State
• 9. In Love with Bigness: The Postwar Corporation
• 10. The Personal, the Political, and the Profitable
• 11. After the Industrial Economy
• 12. Finance Takes Flight
• Conclusion: After the Crisis
• About the Author
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright