Mercantilism and Classical Republicanism

The papers are to be on particular eras or areas of U.S. economic history that interest you. You must have at least seven sources, of which one may be to a source used in this course.

including approx 200-300 words of endnotes and bibliography.  We basic talk about the history of American economics, slavery, equity, american revolution, Mercantilism and Classical Republicanism. We talked about John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, John Adam, Thomas Jefferson. Do not need to introduce too much background about economists. And you may choose an economist highlight and you can compare him with other economists.

2. Mercantilism and Classical Republicanism
“The colonial period, governed by the mercantilist principle, accepted a broad
sphere of action for the state in the economic field.” 1
–Louis Hartz
“The central language of the [American] Revolution contained much more than …
emphasis on private rights. That language incorporated as well a classical
republicanism, or a civic humanism, which stressed communal responsibilities.
These ideas concentrated on the threat of corruption to public order, the dangers
of commercialism, and the need to foster public virtue.” 2
–Elliot Brownlee
It is frequently the case that reality is so far from our conceptions of it that what is
thought to be or to have been the case is almost diametrically opposed to what is or was so. In
the same way that their ideas of the British origins of American thought are faulty or inaccurate,
many authors misunderstand the mercantilist nature of colonial American and the early United
States. America was no model of a free trade, laissez faire economy at its founding. It practiced
wide government involvement in the economy, especially at the state and local levels, and
significant government activity generally.3 According to Jonathan Hughes: “Colonial America
was … the child of English mercantilism.” 4 He also writes it is “clear that the forces of free
market competition played little role in early colonial thought.” 5