SYLLABUS: AMERICAN BUSINESS HISTORY--HISTORY 363
(syllabus last revised
06/07/2006)
Daniel Pope
Office: 331 McKenzie Office Hours: Tues., 10:30-12:00 and Wed.
2:00-3:30
Phone: 346-4015 E-mail: dapope@uoregon.edu
Course Meets: MW 12:00-13:20, 175 Lillis
President Calvin Coolidge once said that the "chief business of the American people is business." That doesn't necessarily mean that the history of the American people is the history of American business, but it does suggest that we will be examining topics that are central to the American past. Also, since the modern business corporation is certainly a dominant institution in our lives, a historical perspective on it should be useful for those who want to understand contemporary American society.
This is a one-term course, designed for undergraduate business and pre-business majors as well as for students in the liberal arts and other programs who want to get some historical perspective on American business. No prior classes in either history or business are assumed or required here, but such courses might prove relevant if you've taken them.
Books:
Requirements: A take-home midterm exam, worth about 25% of the
course grade--due Monday, May 8 at class time.
New! Link to
Take-Home Midterm Exam A short (4-7 pages suggested length) paper,
worth about 25%--due Wednesday, May 31 at class time. A handout
with options for the paper topic is now available on line at
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dapope/363papertop--s06.htm. A final exam, worth about 40% of the course
grade. You'll have a choice between a take-home and an in-class final.
The in-class exam is scheduled for Monday, June 12 at 10:15 a.m.
That is also the deadline for the submission of take-home exams. If you
haven't handed in the take-home by that time, you must take the in-class version
of the test. Class Sessions and Reading
Assignments: Link to April 3
April 5
April 10
April 12
April 17
Link to Paper
Topic Handout
April 19
April 24
Link to
Take-Home Midterm Exam
April 26
May 1
May 3
May 8
May 10
May 15
May 17
May 22
May 24
New!
Notes and questions on Capital Moves
May 31
New! Link to
Final Exam
June 5
June 7 April 3 - 12: Business: America's Oldest Profession? Read: The Company, pp. xii - 36
(Introduction and chapters 1 and 2) One historian has written, "Capitalism came to America on the first ships." In this section of the course, we shall discuss the
role of business motives and institutions in the expansion of Europe and the settlement of what is now the United States.
Among the topics we will consider are: religious beliefs and business values; trans-Atlantic trade patterns; the business of the
slave trade; the Revolution and American business. April 17-19: Creating a Framework for Business Growth Between the American Revolution and the 1870's, the groundwork for business growth was put in place. In this section we
will look at: the Constitution and legal changes as they affected business; the transportation revolution and the growth of the
railroads; new commercial practices and patterns; business values in an individualistic, competitive society. April 24-May 3: The Rise of Big Business --Creating Corporate America Read: The Company, Chapter 4
(Chapter 5 is recommended but not required) During the years from about 1870 to 1920, the United States underwent a transformation that made it the greatest industrial
power in the world. In this section we will focus on the appearance of "big business," companies that were not simply larger
than their predecessors but were qualitatively more complex as well. Why did large corporations appear when they did?
What sectors of the economy did they dominate? Who were the men who rose to the top of the new business world? Take-home midterm due May 8 at class time. May 8-15: Living With Big Business: Anti-Trust, Management Ideologies, and
Consumerism Read: The Corporation,
chapter six Big business by the early twentieth century affected the lives of almost all
Americans, directly and indirectly. In these sessions, we'll look at three
aspects of this impact. First, could laws and court decisions be used to
break up concentrated corporate power and restore a (perhaps imaginary)
competitive ideal? Second, how would work be controlled in a big business
society? Third, what methods and messages did businesses use to shape a
nation of consumers of their products? And how did Americans respond to
modern marketing? May 17-22: Who Controls American Business? Read: Capital Moves,
chapters 2-3 In the twentieth century, American businesses underwent an evolution, brought on by external pressures (from labor,
government, consumers, etc.) and internal forces (notably, the need to adapt to changing technologies and markets).
Who actually has power within the modern business firm? Its shareholders?
Banks and other financial institutions? Top management? The "technostructure"
of those with specialized technical and organizational skills and knowledge?
And what forces outside the corporations (government, labor unions, consumers,
etc.) can control or counterbalance their power? May 24: Small Business and the role of "Outsiders" No reading assignments for this session. Keep reading, however:
Capital Moves, chapters 4-7, and The Corporation, chapters 7 and 8,
are required for the next sessions. As many business historians have emphasized, the
rise of "big business" did not mean the end of "small business." In many
ways--job creation, product innovation, adaptation to new technological
opportunities--smaller firms have, in fact, been leaders, not followers.
How have they survived? How have groups (notably people of color and white
women) historically excluded from or discriminated against in giant corporations
made use of small business to advance their well-being? NOTE: No class May 29--Memorial Day holiday. May 31-June 7: A Post Industrial Economy, Globalization and the Future of
American Business Read: Capital Moves, chapters 4-7 Only a few years ago, pundits were proclaiming
the peaceful world-wide triumph of capitalism and a new economic era in the
United States. Many based their boasts on the promise of new
telecommunications technologies and of globalization. Late 1990s financial
crises in East Asia, Russia, Mexico and elsewhere, a militant movement against
corporate-led globalization, a serious recession in the United States at the
start of the new century, and the war in Iraq have all called these predictions
into doubt. A Few Notes A. Although I will frequently be lecturing, I hope to provide opportunity for questions and discussion. This will work best if
you try to keep pace with reading assignments. Constructive class participation will count in your favor
for the course grade, if you care about such matters. B. I plan to emphasize biography in this course. Most weeks, at least part of one lecture will be devoted to a "tycoon of the
week," an individual who exemplified or pioneered an important development in American business history. C. Most of us, myself included, come to this course with attitudes and opinions about American business. I won't hesitate to
make my views known, though I don't intend to preach or propagandize. Regardless of your own views, you will be
welcome to express them, especially if you do so in a well-informed and well-reasoned fashion. History 363
The following books should be available at the
U of O Bookstore. Used copies may be also be available at Smith Family Bookstore. I will
also try to have at least one copy of each of these on reserve in the library.
Regina Blaszczyk and Philip Scranton, editors, Major Problems in American
Business History
John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, The Company: A Short History of a
Revolutionary Idea
Jefferson Cowie, Capital Moves: RCA's 70 Year Quest for Cheap Labor
Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, is optional. It's for one of the choices
for the paper assignment. Don't buy it until you've decided to do that
option.
Frederick W. Taylor, The Principles of Scientific Management, is also
optional and one of the paper assignment choices. Again, don't buy it
until you decide to do that option.
Valuable class participation, about ten percent
Major Problems,
chapter 1, essays by Scranton and Chandler; chapter 2, documents 1-4 and essays
by Perkins and Kulik; chapter 3, documents 1-3, 5 and 9 and essays by Morgan and
Doerflinger.
Read: Major Problems, chapter 4, documents 1-4 and 7-8 and essays by
Lamoreaux and John; chapter 5, documents 1-3 and essays by Johnson, Dew and
Faust; chapter 6, Documents 1-3.
The Company,
Chapter 3.
Major Problems,
Chapter 6, documents 6-8 and essays by Ingham and Laird; Chapter 7, Documents
1-6 and essays by Yates and Lipartito; Chapter 8, documents 1-4 and essay by Dunlavy; Chapter 9, documents 1-4 and essays by Olegario and Kwolek-Folland.
Capital Moves,
Introduction and Chapter One
Major
Problems, chapter 8, documents 5-8 and essay by Jacoby; chapter 10 (all)
Major Problems, chapter 13 (all)
The Corporation,
chapters 7 and 8.
Major Problems,
chapter 14, all documents and essays by Dicke and Head; chapter 15, Documents
1,4,6 and 7 and essays by Jones and by Baily and Farrell.
Spring 2006