Capitalism Takes Command : The Social Transformation of Nineteenth-Century America

Most scholarship on nineteenth-century America’s transformation into a market society has focused on consumption, romanticized visions of workers, and analysis of firms and factories. Building on but moving past these studies, __Capitalism Takes Command__ presents a history of family farming, general incorporation laws, mortgage payments, inheritance practices, office systems, and risk management—an inventory of the means by which capitalism became America’s new revolutionary tradition. This multidisciplinary collection of essays argues not only that capitalism reached far beyond the purview of the economy, but also that the revolution was not confined to the destruction of an agrarian past. As business ceaselessly revised its own practices, a new demographic of private bankers, insurance brokers, investors in securities, and start-up manufacturers, among many others, assumed center stage, displacing older elites and forms of property. Explaining how capital became an “ism” and how business became a political philosophy, __Capitalism Takes Command__ brings the economy back into American social and cultural history. Most Scholarship On 19th-century America's Transformation Into A Market Society Has Focused On Consumption, Romanticized Visions Of Workers, And Analysis Of Firms And Factories. Building On But Moving Past These Studies, This Book Presents A History Of Family Farming, General Incorporation Laws, Mortgage Payments And Much More. Introduction: An American Revolutionary Tradition / Michael Zakim And Gary J. Kornblith -- The Agrarian Context Of American Capitalist Development / Christopher Clark -- The Mortgage Worked The Hardest: The Fate Of Landed Independence In Nineteenth-century America / Jonathan Levy -- Toxic Debt, Liar Loans, Collateralized And Securitized Human Beings And The Panic Of 1837 / Edward E. Baptist -- Inheriting Property And Debt: From Family Security To Corporate Accumulation / Elizabeth Blackmar -- Slave Breeding And Free Love: An Antebellum Argument Over Slavery, Capitalism, And Personhood / Amy Dru Stanley -- Capitalism And The Rise Of The Corporation Nation / Robert E. Wright -- Capitalist Aesthetics: Americans Look At The London And Liverpool Docks / Tamara Plakins Thornton -- William Leggett And The Melodrama Of The Market / Jeffrey Sklansky -- Producing Capitalism: The Clerk At Work / Michael Zakim -- Soulless Monsters And Iron Horses: The Civil War, Institutional Change And American Capitalism / Sean Patrick Adams -- Afterword: Anonymous History / Jean-christophe Agnew. Edited By Michael Zakim And Gary J. Kornblith. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Most scholarship on nineteenth-century America's transformation into a market society has focused on consumption, romanticized visions of workers, and analysis of firms and factories. Building on but moving past these studies, Capitalism Takes Command presents a history of family farming, general incorporation laws, mortgage payments, inheritance practices, office systems, and risk management--an inventory of the means by which capitalism became America's new revolutionary tradition. This multidisciplinary collection of essays argues not only that capitalism reached far beyond the purview of the economy, but also that the revolution was not confined to the destruction of an agrarian past. As business ceaselessly revised its own practices, a new demographic of private bankers, insurance brokers, investors in securities, and start-up manufacturers, among many others, assumed center stage, displacing older elites and forms of property. Explaining how capital became an "ism" and how business became a political philosophy, Capitalism Takes Command brings the economy back into American social and cultural history."--Résumé de l'éditeur "Most scholarship on nineteenth-century America's transformation into a market society has focused on consumption, romanticized visions of workers, and analysis of firms and factories. Building on but moving past these studies, Capitalism Takes Command presents a history of family farming, general incorporation laws, mortgage payments, inheritance practices, office systems, and risk management--an inventory of the means by which capitalism became America's new revolutionary tradition. This multidisciplinary collection of essays argues not only that capitalism reached far beyond the purview of the economy, but also that the revolution was not confined to the destruction of an agrarian past. As business ceaselessly revised its own practices, a new demographic of private bankers, insurance brokers, investors in securities, and start-up manufacturers, among many others, assumed center stage, displacing older elites and forms of property. Explaining how capital became an "ism" and how business became a political philosophy, Capitalism Takes Command brings the economy back into American social and cultural history."--Provided by publisher Most scholarship on nineteenth-century America's transformation into a market society has focused on consumption, romanticized visions of workers, and analysis of firms and factories. Building on but moving past these studies, Capitalism Takes Command presents a history of family farming, general incorporation laws, mortgage payments, inheritance practices, office systems, and risk management an inventory of the means by which capitalism became America's new revolutionary tradition. This multidisciplinary collection of essays argues not only that capitalism reached far beyond the purview of the economy, but also that the revolution was not confined to the destruction of an agrarian past. As business ceaselessly revised its own practices, a new demographic of private bankers, insurance brokers, investors in securities, and start-up manufacturers, among many others, assumed center stage, displacing older elites and forms of property. Explaining how capital became an "ism" and how business became a political philosophy, Capitalism Takes Command brings the economy back into American social and cultural history. -- Provided by publisher Most scholarship on nineteenth-century America’s transformation into a market society has focused on consumption, romanticized visions of workers, and analysis of firms and factories. Building on but moving past these studies, this book presents a history of family farming, general incorporation laws, mortgage payments, inheritance practices, office systems, and risk management—an inventory of the means by which capitalism became America’s new revolutionary tradition. This multidisciplinary collection of essays argues not only that capitalism reached far beyond the purview of the economy, but also that the revolution was not confined to the destruction of an agrarian past. As business ceaselessly revised its own practices, a new demographic of private bankers, insurance brokers, investors in securities, and start-up manufacturers, among many others, assumed center stage, displacing older elites and forms of property. Explaining how capital became an “ism” and how business became a political philosophy, it brings the economy back into American social and cultural history