Category: Economic History

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exam questions for Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Ashley, 1895-96

 

William James Ashley (1899 biography) taught a course on the mediaeval economic history of Europe that required reading knowledge of Latin that was indeed tested as can be seen in his examination questions transcribed below.

Earlier posts with material from Ashley’s economic history courses:

University of Toronto Economic History Exams (1891)

Economic History Module in Introductory Economics Course (1896)

Modern Economic History (1899-1900)

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 10. Professor Ashley. — The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. 2 hours.

Total 14: 7 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 2 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1895-96, p. 63.

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Course Description

[10. The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Tu., Th., (and at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley.]

Omitted in 1897-98.

The object of this course is to give a general view of the economic development of society during the Middle Ages. It will deal, among others, with the following topics:— the manorial system in its relation to mediaeval agriculture and serfdom; the merchant gilds and the beginnings of town life and of trade; the craft gild and the gild-system of industry, compared with earlier and later forms; the commercial supremacy of the Hanseatic and Italian merchants; the trade routes of the Middle Ages and of the sixteenth century; the merchant adventurers and the great trading companies; the agrarian changes of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the break-up of the mediaeval organization of social classes; the appearance of new manufactures and of the domestic industry.

Special attention will be devoted to England, but that country will be treated as illustrating the broader features of the economic evolution of the whole of western Europe; and attention will be called to the chief peculiarities of the economic history of France, Germany and Italy.

Students will be introduced in this course to the use of the original sources, and they will need to be able to translate easy Latin.

It is desirable that they should already possess some general acquaintance with mediaeval history, and those who are deficient in this respect will be expected to read one or two supplementary books, to be suggested by the instructor. The course is conveniently taken after, before, or in conjunction with History 9; and it will be of especial use to those who intend to study the law of Real Property.

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics (1897-98), pp. 31-32.

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1895-96
ECONOMICS 10.
Mid-year examination

I.

To be first attempted by all.

Translate, and comment, on the following passages: —

  1. Totius terrae descriptio diligens facta est, tam in nemoribus quam in pascuis et pratis, nec non in agriculturis, et verbis communibus annotata in librum redacta est.
  2. In Tineguella…sunt iiii hidae et dimidia ad geldum Regis. Et de istis tenet xx homines xx virgas terrae. Et xiii homines tenent vi virgas et dimidiam.
  3. Sicut traditum habemus a patribus, in primitivo regni statu post conquisitionem, regibus de fundis suis non auri vel argenti pondera sed sola victualia solvebantur.
  4. Plerique, cum aut aere alieno aut magnitudine tributorum aut injuria potentiorum premuntur, sese in servitutem dicunt nobilibus, quibus in hos eadem omnia sunt jura quae dominis in servos.
  5. Ceteris servis non in nostrum morem, descriptis per familiam ministeriis, utuntur. Suam quisque sedem, suos penates regit.

II.

Write on four only of the following subjects.

  1. The importance of the yardland in the rural economy of the Middle Ages.
  2. A history of the mark theory, from its first promulgation to its general acceptance.
  3. A comparison of the life of a mediaeval English village with that of a New England village of today.
  4. The Roman colonate.
  5. An account and criticism of Mr. Seebohm’s “Tribal System in Wales.”

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 3. Bound volume: Examination Papers. Mid-Years, 1895-96.

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1895-96
ECONOMICS 10.
Final Examination

I.

To be first attempted by all.

Comment on the following passages, and translate those in Latin and French: —

  1. If a man agree for a yard of land, or more, at a fixed rent, and plough it; if the lord desire to raise the land to him to service and to rent, he need not take it upon him, if the lord do not give him a dwelling.
  2. Ego Eadward…rex…dedi X manentes in illo loco qui dicitur aet Stoce be Hysseburnam, cum omnibus hominibus qui in illa terra errant qando AElfred rex viam universae carnis adiit.
  3. Magnates regni et alii minores domini qui tenentes habebant perdonarunt redditum de redditu ne tenentes abirent prae defectu servorum et caristia rerum.
  4. Whan Adam dalf and Eve span,
    Wo was thane a gentilman?
  5. Nul ne deit rien achater a revendre en la vile meyme, fors yl serra Gildeyn.
  6. Cives Londoniae debent LX marcas pro Gilda telaria delenda ita ut de cetero non suscitetur.
  7. No one of the trade of Spurriers shall work longer than from the beginning of the day until curfew rings out at the church of St. Sepulchre.

II.
Write on four only of the following subjects:

  1. The economic and constitutional questions involved in recent discussions as to the beginnings of town life in mediaeval Europe.
  2. A comparison of a mediaeval merchant gild with a modern “trust,” and of a craft gild with a modern trade union.
  3. The extent and character of the public regulation of prices and wages in the later middle ages.
  4. The cause of the Peasant Revolt in 1381.
  5. The relation of the English Reformation to the origin of the Poor Laws.
  6. A criticism of Cunningham and McArthur’s Outlines of English Industrial History.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1896-97. Section: Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government, Economics, Fine Arts, Architecture, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1896), pp. 45-46.

Image Source:University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899) , p. 595.

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Chicago Economic History Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Reading Assignments for Development of Monetary and Financial Institutions. Hamilton, 1952

 

The 1960 reading assignments for Earl J. Hamilton’s course on the historical development of monetary and financial institutions at the University of Chicago were transcribed and posted earlier. It turns out that a copy of the 1952 reading assignments for the course can be found filed in a folder in the Milton Friedman Papers at the Hoover Institution. Since there was no name on the 1952 reading list, an archivist is likely to have erroneously assumed that the course had been taught by Friedman and so filed it with other materials from those courses taught by Milton Friedman. A casual comparison of the two sets of reading assignments is enough to verify that bibliographic formatting (e.g., Library of Congress call numbers are included for all items) and the overwhelming majority of items are common to the two lists (with some shuffling in the order of the readings). 

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Course Description (1951)

[Economics] 334. The Development of Monetary and Financial Institutions. The evolution of monetary and banking systems in leading nations, the rise of organized dealings in foreign exchange, the emergence of great money markets, the origin and growth of national debt and the economic consequences of inflation and deflation. Theories underlying and reflecting monetary and financial changes. Prereq: Econ 222 or 230. Spr: MTuWF 9:30; Hamilton

Source: University of Chicago. Announcements, Vol. 50, No. 9 (July 20, 1950). The Division of the Social Sciences, Sessions of 1950-1951, p. 30.

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Course Reading Assignments

Economics 334

Assignments to be read before July 16, 1952

  1. Luigi Einaudi, “The Medieval Practice of Managed Currency,” in A.D. Gayer (Editor), The Lessons of Monetary Experience, pp. 259-268. HG 255.L63
  2. W. C. Mitchell, “The Role of Money in Economic Theory,” in The Backward Art of Spending Money, Pp. 149-176. HB 33.M68.
  3. Official Papers by Alfred Marshall, pp. 3-16. HG171.M318.
  4. R. G. Hawtrey, Currency and Credit, Chapter on “The Bank Restriction of 1797.” HG221.H4
  5. J. M. Keynes, A Tract on Monetary Reform, Chapters I-II, IV. HG221.K4
  6. J. M. Keynes, A Treatise on Money, Vol. II, Chapter 30. HG221.K422
  7. Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit, and Commerce, Book IV, and Appendix A. HG221.M35
  8. Charles F. Dunbar (Revised and edited by O. M. W. Sprague), The Theory and History of Banking, Chapters VIII (“The English Banking System”), IX (“The French Banking System”), X (“The German Banking System”), XI (“The National Banks of the United States”). HG1586.D9
  9. Earl J. Hamilton, American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, Chapter XIII. H31.H33, v. 43.
  10. *Earl J. Hamilton, “The Foundation of the Bank of Spain,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. LIII (1945), pp. 97-114. HB1.J7.
  11. Earl J. Hamilton, “Prices and Wages at Paris under John Law’s System,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LI, (1936-1937), pp. 42-70. HB1.Q3
  12. Walter Bagehot, Lombard Street. HG3000.L82B3
  13. R. S. Sayers, “The Question of the Standard in the Eighteen-Fifties,” Economic History (a supplement to the Economic Journal), Vol. II, pp. 575-601. HB1.E31
  14. Rufus S. Tucker, “The Myth of 1849,” in C.O Hardy, Is There Enough Gold? Appendix A, pp. 177-199. HG289.H28
  15. Davis R. Dewey, Financial History of the United States, 12th Ed. Pp. 320-328 (“Arguments in Favor of a National Banking System” and “National Banking Act of 1863.”) HJ241.D576
  16. *R. G. Hawtrey, A Century of Bank Rate, Chapters I-IV. HG1623.G7H4

*Read for interpretation and point of view. Do not try to remember facts.

There will be an examination on July 16 on these assignments and the lectures.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 334

Assignments to be read by not later than August 13, 1952

  1. J. Silberling, “Financial and Monetary Policy of Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XXXVIII (1923-24), pp. 214-33, 397-439. HB1.Q3, v.38
  2. H. Clapham, The Bank of England, Vol. II, Chapters VI-VIII and Epilogue. HG2996.C6
  3. M. Keynes, Essays in Persuasion, Part II, Chaps. 1 and 3; Part III, Chapter 5; Part V, Chapter 2. In the London, 1933 edition these chapters cover pages 77-79, 105-17, 244-70, 358-73. HC57.K471
  4. H. Robertson, Essays in Monetary Theory, Chaps. I and XII. HB171.R544
  5. Fred H. Klopstock, “Monetary Reform in Western Germany,” Journal of Political Economy, August, 1949. HB1.J7, v. 57
  6. Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit, and Commerce, Book II. HG221.M35
  7. Henri Hauser, Les origins historiques des problèmes économiques actuels, Paris, 1930, pp. 70-90.
  8. M. W. Sprague, Crises under the National Banking System, Washington, 1910, pp. 1-107. HB3743.S7
  9. M. Keynes, A Treatise on Money, Vol. II, Chaps. 35 and 37. HG221.K422
  10. M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chapter 23. HB171.K46
  11. W. Kemmerer, The ABC of the Federal Reserve System, Princeton University Press, 1936, Chapters I-V. HG2563.K31
  12. Jacob Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chapters III-V. HF1007.V75
  13. Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, “Digression concerning Banks of Deposit, particularly concerning that of Amsterdam,” in Book IV, Chapter III, Part I. HB161.S65.
  14. Knut Wicksell, “The Influence of the Rate of Interest on Prices,” Economic Journal, Vol. XVII (1907), pp. 213-220. YW16 (reprint)

There will be an hour examination on August 13th.

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman. Box 78, Folder 1 “University of Chicago Econ 334”.

Image Source:  University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-02446, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

 

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exams for European and U.S. Economic History. Gay and Klein, 1911

This post adds  final examinations for the 1910-11 academic year to previous posts dedicated to two economic history courses taught by Edwin F. Gay during the second decades of the twentieth century at Harvard. 

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Instructors: Edwin F. Gay, Julius Klein

Biographical information

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Reading list: First term, 1910-11.
Economics 6a.

European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

Final exam. First term, 1910-11.
Economics 6a.

[European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century]

  1. (a) “The essence of the industrial revolution is the substitution of competition for the mediaeval regulations which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth….Competition came to be believed in as a gospel.” (Toynbee.)
    Give illustrations of the substitution of competition, and state why, in your opinion, the good rather than the evil of competition was emphasized at this period.
    (b) Toynbee said: “The effects of the industrial revolution prove that free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being.” A Boston reformer, speaking of the advent of machinery, says, “The profits from the machine were absorbed by capital,” so that the people did not have their share. Does the economic history of the nineteenth century support these views?
  2. (a) Trace concisely the influence of agricultural interests upon the tariff history of England, France and Germany in the nineteenth century.
    (b) Has England been more affected by the agricultural depression of the last thirty years than other European countries? Why has it not been more influenced by the “protectionist reaction?”
  3. How has the French railroad policy differed from that of Prussia? Which has been the more beneficial? Give reasons.
  4. Do the actual conditions warrant the assertions concerning “the ominous situation of British trade?” Give reasons.
  5. State succinctly the chief facts concerning:—
    (a) Assignats.
    (b) British shipping subsidies.
    (c) Crisis of 1857.

Source: Harvard University Archives, Examination papers, Mid-years (HUC 7000.55). Box 8, Examination Papers, Mid-years, 1910-11.

cf. Final exam. First term, 1914-15.
Economics 2a.

European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

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Reading list: Second term, 1910-11.
Economics 6b.

Economic and Financial History of the United States.

 

Final exam: Second term, 1910-11.
Economics 6b.

[Economic and Financial History of the United States]

  1. Outline fully the topics you would discuss if you were to write a thesis on the history of the iron and steel industry in the United States.
  2. Comment on the following:—
    1. “We import annually millions of dollars’ worth of tropical products that could be grown in the United States.” (Report of Secretary of Agriculture for 1901.)
    2. “The sum paid by American producers and manufacturers to these foreign bottoms during the past year was $500,000,000, a sum sufficient to dig the Panama Canal and operate it for twenty years. Remember that all this good American money has gone into the pockets of foreigners.” (Admiral Evans in a recent magazine article.)
  3. (a) Outline our tariff history since 1890.
    (b) Comment on Senator Aldrich’s statement: “I do not believe there are any duties levied in this bill [the tariff act of 1909] that are excessive or are prohibitory.”
    (c) The American experience with reciprocity. Are you in favor of the reciprocity treaty with Canada? State your reasons.
  4. Rhodes in his history of the United States says: “This tendency [the accumulation of large fortunes and the development of abject poverty] had begun before the War and has been the result rather of the constantly deteriorating character of the European immigration than of industrial changes on our own soil.”
    Do you agree with this view? Give your reasons.
  5. Comment on the following: “The year 1896 was in fact one of those periods rare in the history of any country of which it could be said that a given chapter had definitely closed and that another was about to open.”
  6. Compare briefly the conditions before and after the Civil War in respect to
    1. The defects of our banking system;
    2. The public land policy;
    3. Governmental assistance to and control of transportation enterprise.

Source: Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, …, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College. June 1911, p. 44. In Harvard University Archives, Examination papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25). Box 9. Examination Papers, 1910-11.

cf. Final Exam. Second term, 1914-15.

Economics 2b
Economic and Financial History of the United States.

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay and Julius Klein, respectively, from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5 (March 1914) and Harvard Album 1920.

 

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Chicago Economic History Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Reading list for Development of Monetary and Financial Institutions. Hamilton, 1960

 

 

The papers of the economic historian Earl J. Hamilton are a grab-bag of archival treasure, poorly sorted and demanding from the historian an unlimited faith in the goodness of the gods of serendipity. This post is a course reading list that would have rested safe in the obscurity of Hamilton’s papers, but for a chance encounter. I have taken the liberty of assuming the course title for Economics 334 at the University of Chicago in 1959-60 would match that of 1956-57. The course reading list is a nice example of the intersection of economic history and the history of economics.  

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Economics 334: Mr. Hamilton

Assignments to be read before May 20, 1960

  1. Luigi Einaudi, “The Medieval Practice of Managed Currency,” in A.D. Gayer (Ed.), The Lessons of Monetary Experience, pp. 259-268. HG 255.L63
  2. W. C. Mitchell, “The Role of Money in Economic Theory,” in The Backward Art of Spending Money, pp. 149-176. HB 33.M 68.
  3. Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, “Digression concerning Banks of Deposit, particularly concerning that of Amsterdam,” in Book IV, Chapter III, Part I. HB 161. S 65.
  4. Earl J. Hamilton, American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, Chapter XIII. H31.H33, v. 43
  5. Earl J. Hamilton, “Prices and Wages at Paris under John Law’s System,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LI, (1936-1937), pp. 42-70. HB1.Q3
  6. Jacob Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chapters III-V HF1007.V75
  7. N. J. Silberling, “Financial and Monetary Policy of Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XXXVIII (1923-24), pp. 214-33, 397-439. HB1.Q3, v.38
  8. Lloyd W. Mints, History of Banking Theory, Chapter IV. HG1586.M6
  9. Walter Bagehot, Lombard Street. HG3000.L82B3
  10. R. S. Sayers, “The Question of the Standard in the Eighteen-Fifties,” Economic History (a supplement to the Economic Journal), Vol. II, pp. 575-601. HB1.E31
  11. Rufus S. Tucker, “The Myth of 1849,” in C.O Hardy, Is There Enough Gold? Appendix A, pp. 177-199. HG289.H28.
  12. J. H. Clapham, The Bank of England, Vol. II, Chapters VI-VIII and Epilogue. HG2996.C6
  13. Knut Wicksell, “The Influence of the Rate of Interest on Prices,” Economic Journal, Vol. XVII (1907), pp. 213-220. YW16 (reprint)
  14. O. M. W. Sprague, Crises under the National Banking System, Washington, 1910, pp. 1-107. HB3743.S7
  15. John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book III, Chapter XII. HB171.M635, M636, M644, M653.
  16. Charles F. Dunbar (Revised and edited by O. M. W. Sprague), The Theory and History of Banking, Chapters VIII (“The English Banking System”), IX (“The French Banking System”), X (“The German Banking System”), XI (“The National Banks of the United States”). HG1586.D9
  17. J. M. Keynes, A Tract on Monetary Reform, Chapters I-II, IV-V. HG221.K4
  18. J. M. Keynes, A Treatise on Money, Vol. II, Chapter 30. HG221.K422.

There will be an hour examination on April 29, 1960 covering 1-18 and the lectures.

  1. Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit, and Commerce, Books II, IV, and Appendix A. HG221.M35
  2. J. M. Keynes, Essays in Persuasion, Part II, Chaps. 1 and 3; Part III, Chapter 5; Part V, Chapter 2. In the London, 1933 edition these chapters cover pages 77-79, 105-17, 244-70, 358-73. HC57.K471.
  3. D. H. Robertson, Essays in Monetary Theory, Chaps. I and XII. HB 171.R544.
  4. Fred H. Klopstock, “Monetary Reform in Western Germany,” Journal of Political Economy, August, 1949. HB1.J7, v. 57.
  5. J. M. Keynes, A Treatise on Money, Vol. II, Chaps. 35 and 37. HG221.K422
  6. Earl J. Hamilton, “Prices and Progress,” Journal of Economic History, XII (1952), pp. 325-49.
  7. J. M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chapter 23. HB171.K46
  8. Official Papers by Alfred Marshall, pp. 3-16. HG171.M318.
  9. The Federal Reserve System: Purposes and Functions
  10. Rondo E. Cameron, “The Credit Mobilier and the Economic Development of Europe,” Journal of Political Economy, LXI (1953), pp. 461-88.

There will be a three-hour final examination (9:00-12:00) on May 27, 1960 covering all assignments and lectures.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Earl J. Hamilton Papers. Box 2. Folder “Academic and Personal Correspondence 1950s-1970s; 1990; and n.d.”

Image Source:  University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-02446, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution. Gay, 1934

 

 

A brief biography of Harvard economic historian and first Dean of the Harvard Business School, Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) is found in the earlier post for his course “Recent Economic History” that was also taught at Harvard in the 1934-35 academic year. Below we have the course announcement, enrollment figures, reading list, and final exam for the course on European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution.

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Course Announcement

Economics 2a 1hf. European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution

Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor Gay.

Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1934-35, second edition. Published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXI, No. 38 (September 20, 1934), p. 125.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 2a 1hf. Professor Gay.—European Economic History since the Industrial Revolution.

Total 50:  3 Graduates, 21 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1934-35, p. 81.

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Assigned and Suggested Readings

ECONOMICS 2a
[pencil insert: 1934-5]

European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution

Hour Test on November 13 [Pencil insert: Extended to Nov. 15] will cover Groups I and II.

I. SOCIAL THOUGHT AND PROGRESS

A. V. Dicey—Law and Public Opinion in England (1908). Lectures 4-7 (Pages 62-258)

J. M. Keynes—The End of Laissez Faire. (1926)

G. Wallas—Life of Francis Place (1918). Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 (pages 1-92, 157-240)

II. TRANSPORTATION

E. A. Pratt—A History of Inland Transport and Communication in England (1912). Chapters 8-22 (pages 51-311)

J. H. Clapham—Economic Development of France and Germany (1921). Chapters 5, 7, 12 (Pages 104-120, 140-157, 339-375)

III. AGRICULTURE

Lord Ernle—English Farming, Past and Present (3d edition, 1922). Chapters 17, 18

J. H. Clapham—Economic Development of France and Germany (1921). Chapter 9 (pages 195-231)

C. L. Christensen—Agricultural Cooperation in Denmark. Pages 9-54, 81-87

IV. TARIFF POLICY

P. Ashley—Modern Tariff History (1920). Part 1, Part 3 (pages 3-128, 269-355)

J. Morley—Life of Richard Cobden (1881). Chapters 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16 (pages 140-172, 209-247, 290-307, 355-389)

V. BANKING

A. Andreades—History of the Bank of England (1909). Vol. 1, part 4; Vol. 2, Introductory chapter and Part 1 (pages 161-294)

H. Feis—Europe The World’s Banker, 1870-1914 (1930). Part I; Part II; Part III, Chapters 12, 13 (pages 3-190-258-313)

VI. READING PERIOD ASSIGNMENT

Choose ONE of the following groups:

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

P. Mantoux—The Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century (English translation, 1928)

Part I, Chapter 2
Part II, Chapters 1, 2, 3
Part III, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
(pages 93-139-193-317, 349-489)

J. H. Clapham—Economic Development of France and German. Chapters 3, 4 (pages 53-103)

LABOR

S. & B. Webb—History of Trade Unionism (1920 edition). Chapters (in part) 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11 (pages 64-112, 153-179, 180-204, 249-298, 358-421, 472-546, 594-611, 634-676, 677-704)

Cambridge Modern History—Volume 12—Chapter 23—Social Movements (by Webb) (pages 730-765

BRITISH INDUSTRY AND CAPITAL

A. Siegfried—England’s Crisis (1933 edition)

L. H. Jenks—The Migration of British Capital to 1875 (1927). Chapters 1, 5, 7, 11. Pages 1-24, 126-157, 193-232, 326-336)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING—NOT ASSIGNED

A. Birnie—Economic History of Europe 1760-1930 (1930)

C. Day—Economic Development in Modern Europe (1933)

J. H. Clapham—An Economic History of Modern Britain—2 vol. 1926-32 [3 vols. 1926-1938]

L. Domeratzsky—The International Cartel Movement (1928)

R. J. S. Hoffman—Great Britain and the German Trade Rivalry 1875-1914 (1933)

P Fitzgerald—Industrial Combination in England (1927)

L. C .A. Knowles—The Economic Development of the British Overseas Empire, 2 vols. (1924-1930)

F. L. Nussbaum—A History of the Economic Institutions of Modern Europe (1933)

H. M. Robertson—Aspects of the Rise of Economic Individualism (1933)

L. C .A. Knowles—Economic Development in the Nineteenth Century (1932)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics 1934-1935”

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1934-35
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 2a1
[Final. 1935.]

Comment briefly on THREE of the statements in part I, and discuss more fully TWO of the questions in Part II.

Part I

  1. “During the period 1785-1802 there was an increase rather than a decrease of the yeomen proper in England.”
    “The Industrial Revolution was responsible for a decrease in the number of yeomen.”
  2. “The solution for the problem of agricultural distress is to be found, as the example of Denmark clearly shows, not in protective tariffs but in coöperative organization.”
  3. “The Bank was right in 1811 in rejecting the main recommendations of the Bullion Committee and in thereby refusing to follow the counsels of doctrinaires.”
  4. “The Trade Union of today is a direct descendant of the old Gild.”
  5. “The fact that the landlords supported the Factory Acts and that the manufacturers agitated for the repeal of the Corn Laws indicates that both of these powerful antagonists desired the welfare of the working class and that this class, as yet unenfranchised, wielded great political power.”

Part II

  1. “It was the increase of population which rendered necessary the Industrial Revolution.” (Lewinski.)
    “The cotton industry by its demand for the labor of women and children was chiefly responsible for the great increase of population in the towns during the generation and a half preceding the Reform Bill.”
    Comment and give your own view concerning the movement of population in Great Britain and its relation to the Industrial Revolution.
  2. “The community as a whole benefits more by falling than by rising prices.” (Layton.)
    Is this statement supported by the experience of England in the nineteenth century?
  3. Show the chief difference (giving reasons therefor) between France and Germany in railroad development and control.
  4. “The manifold connections and activities of British commerce and finance achieved for Great Britain in their freedom a vigorous expansion.” (Feis) Explain and exemplify.
  5. Summarize concisely:
    1. Bullion Report.
    2. New Unionism.
    3. Cobden Chevalier Treaty.
    4. Méline Tariff.
    5. Bank Act of 1844.
    6. Taff Vale Case.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 12. Volume: Examination Papers. Mid-Years, 1934-35.

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay in Harvard Class Album 1934.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Syllabus for Economic History Module in Principles Course. Ashley, 1896.

 

For several years at the end of the 19th century Harvard’s introductory course in economics consisted of a two semester sequence. The fall semester was dedicated to theoretical Principles of Economics à la John Stuart Mill followed by the spring semester that covered specific topics, e.g. economic history, social policy, monetary arrangements.

The economic history module was taught by Professor William J. Ashley and ran for five weeks. The material was tested once in a one-hour mid-term exam and then again in the course final examination (students were to answer at least one of four questions in Group II below).

I have only found a complete set of syllabus, reading assignments, and exam questions for Ashley’s module. In the next post, you will find all the course exams for 1895-96 that were pasted into Frank Taussig’s personal scrapbook of exams for all the courses he taught during his long Harvard career.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 1. Professors Taussig and Ashley, Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, and Dr. John Cummings. — Outlines of Economics. — Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Lectures on Economic Development, Distribution, Social Questions, and Financial Legislation.

Total 338: 3 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 91 Juniors, 161 Sophomores, 8 Freshmen, 40 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1895-96, p. 63.

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Economic History Module
William J. Ashley

ECONOMICS 1.
LECTURES ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Weekly Syllabus 1.

Prescribed Reading for the week: J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book II, Chapters 2-5. R. Jones, Peasant Rents, Chapters 1 and 2, and Appendix pp. 169-182. G. Schmoller, The Mercantile System, pp. 1-13.

N.B. 1. The prescribed reading for the whole period covered by this set of lectures will deal with same general topics as will be considered in the lectures. But it will not be possible to make the reading of each week exactly parallel, in every case, with the lectures of that week.
2. There will be a question set every Friday, and 15 minutes allowed for answering it, on some subject suggested by the reading and lectures of that week.

  1. The Historical Movement of the 19th Century.
    Its causes:

    1. The “Romantic” Reaction against the 18th century “Enlightenment.”
    2. Evolutionary Philosophy—Hegel, Comte, Spencer.
    3. Evolutionary Biology—Darwin.
    4. Anthropology—Tylor.

Its intellectual effects:

    1. Interest in the Middle Ages.
    2. Sense of Continuity—“Uniformitarianism.”
    3. Sense of Relativity.
    4. Changed conception of the relation of the Present to the Past and the Future.
  1. Influence of the Historical Movement on other studies:
    1. On Law—Savigny, Maine.
    2. On Theology—“The Higher Criticism.”
    3. On Economics.
      The older and newer Historical Schools of Economists—Roscher, Schmoller.
  1. Value of Economic History:
    1. For its own sake.
    2. For a right estimate of modern economic theory.
    3. For insight into modern economic facts.

Provisional use of the conceptions of “Stages.”

Preliminary consideration of certain attempts to group all the phenonomena of economic history under a single formula:

    1. Friedrich List. The Five Stages in the development of the peoples of the temperate zone.
    2. Bruno Hildebrand. Naturalwirthschaft, Geldwirthschaft, Creditwirthschaft.

Weekly Syllabus 2.

Prescribed Reading for the week: J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book II, Chapters 6-7. R. Jones, Peasant Rents, Chapter 3, and Appendix pp. 183-190. G. Schmoller, The Mercantile System, pp. 13-43.

Preliminary consideration of current generalisations concerning the development of particular sides of economic life:

Agriculture—

Extensive:

    1. Shifting Tillage (Wildfeldgraswirtschaft)

Intensive:

    1. Open Field System (Three field system, Dreifelderwirthschaft).
    2. Convertible Husbandry (Feldgraswirthschaft).
    3. Rotation of Crops (Fruchtwechselwirtschaft).

Industry  (Manufacture)—

    1. The Family System (Familienindustrie, Hausfleiss).
    2. The Gild System (Handwerk).
      1. Wage-work.
      2. Work for sale.
    3. The Domestic System (Hausindustrie, Verlags-system.)
      1. Domestic system proper.
      2. Wage-work.
    4. The Factory System
      With and without machinery.

Weekly Syllabus 3.

Prescribed Reading for the week: J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book II, Chapters 8-10. R. Jones, Peasant Rents, Chapter 4, and Appendix pp. 190-207. G. Schmoller, The Mercantile System, pp. 43-57.

Preliminary consideration of current generalisations of the anthropologists concerning prehistoric development:

Property—

Tribal Ownership and Family Ownership.
Individual Ownership of Movables.
Individual Ownership of Land.

Theories of Early Agrarian Communism.—Recent Discussions.

Progress of the Arts of Subsistence(Morgan) —

Savagery —

Older period—Fruits and Roots.
Middle period—Fish and Fire.
Later period—Game and the Bow.

Barbarism —

Older period—Pottery.
Middle period—Pastoral Life.
Later period—Iron and Agriculture.

Civilisation —

Sketch of the Economic Development of the European Peoples since the Early Middle Ages.

Reasons for this limitation.

  1. Period of Village or Manorial Economy.
    1. Sketch of Manorial System:

Lord and Serfs.
Demesne and Land in Villenage.
Open Fields.
Week-work and Boon-Days.

  1. Economic Characteristics:

“Natural-economy.”
Self-sufficiency.
Stability.

Relative absence of conditions usually assumed by modern economists.

Weekly Syllabus 4.

Prescribed Reading for the week: J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Preliminary Remarks. R. Jones, Peasant Rents, Chapters 5 and 6. G. Schmoller, The Mercantile System, pp. 57-91.

Interacting phenomena: (1) Commutation of Services, (2) The Rise of Markets.
Appearance of town life in the midst of conditions still predominantly agricultural.

  1. Period of Town Dominance.
    1. The Town Economy:

The Town Market: The Gild Merchant.
The Town Industry: The Craft Gilds.
Subordination of the Country Districts.

    1. The Beginnings of Modern Economic Conditions:

Wage-labor.
Capital.
Profit.

[Then followed in Germany a Period of Territorial Economy.
Its characteristics.
Question whether such a period is distinctly marked in France or England.]

 

  1. Period of National Economy.

Strong central governments.
The spirit of Nationality.
Mercantilism, its Origin, Purpose and Methods.

A. National Economy and Domestic Industries

    1. The new influence of Capital:

On Industry.
On Agriculture.

    1. The action of the State:

Control of Commerce.
Encouragement of Manufactures.
Industrial Legislation.

Weekly Syllabus 5.

Prescribed Reading for the previous month, to be revised: J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Preliminary Remarks and Bk. II, chs. 1-10. R. Jones, Peasant Rents. G. Schmoller, The Mercantile System.

  1. Period of National Economy.

B. National Economy and the Factory System.

    1. Necessary Characteristics of the Factory System.
    2. The World-Market, and Fluctuations of Trade.
    3. Break-up of the Old Industrial Organisation; due to (a) changed conditions, (b) the influence of ideas of natural liberty.
    4. The Age of Individualism, and Industrial Freedom.

Question whether the beginnings may be discerned of a Period of International or World Economy.

Note: The various recent movements towards the reconstruction of a stable industrial organization, and the solution thereby of the “Labor Question,” will be the subjects of the lectures during the following weeks by Professor Cummings.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 1, Folder “1895-1896”.

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1895-96.

ECONOMICS 1.
[W.J.A., Hour Examination. March 13, 1896]

Please write on three questions only.

  1. Mill remarks in his Autobiographythat the distinction between the laws of the production and those of the distribution of wealth was the most important contribution he made to Political Economy. Explain this.
  2. What does Jones mean by the division of Rents into Peasant and Farmer’s Rents?
  3. Give a brief account of the stages of industrial
  4. Draw a parallel between the town policy of the 15thcentury and the national policy of the 18th.
  5. Was Frederick the Great justified in his attempt to introduce the silk manufacture into Prussia?

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1895-96.

ECONOMICS 1.
[Final Examination]

[Answer ten questions. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

Group I.
[At least one.]

  1. Explain the meaning of two of the following terms, — margin of cultivation; wages of superintendence; rapidity of circulation (as to money).
  2. Do profits constitute a return different from interest?
  3. Explain what is meant by the law, or equation, of demand and supply; and in what manner it applies to commodities susceptible of indefinite multiplication without increase of cost.
  4. In what manner does a country gain from the division of labor in its domestic trade? In what manner from international trade?

Group II.
[At least one.]

  1. Does it fall within the province of the economist to discuss the institution of private property?
  2. Show the connection between the industrial development of the present century, and the discussion among economists as to the functions of the entrepreneur.
  3. Consider in what manner prices, or rents, [choose one] are differently determined according as they are under the influence of custom or of competition.
  4. “The idea that economic life has ever been a progress mainly dependent on individual action is mistaken with regard to all stages of civilization, and in some respects it is more mistaken the farther we go back.” Explain and criticize.

Group III.
[At least one.]

  1. If cooperation were universally adopted, what would be left of the wages system?
  2. Is there anything in what you learned as to the laws governing wages, which the action of the English trade-unions in regard to wages has disregarded?
  3. Has the course of events justified Mill’s expectations in regard to the development of profit-sharing and of cooperation? Explain why, or why not.
  4. Describe the trade and benefit features of the English trade-unions.

Group IV.
[At least three.]

  1. Is the present position of the Treasury of the United States in any respect essentially similar to that of the Issue Department of the Bank of England? In any respect essentially dissimilar?
  2. What is the test of over-issue, as to inconvertible paper money? What light does the experience of the United States and of France throw on the probability of over-issue?
  3. Arrange in their proper order the following items in a bank account:—
Capital 100,000 Bonds and Stocks 75,000
Specie 150,000 Surplus 50,000
Notes 100,000 Other Assets 50,000
Loans 400,000 Other Liabilities 60,000
Expenses 25,000 Undivided Profits 40,000
Deposits 350,000

Could this bank be a national bank of the United States? If such a bank, how would the account stand?

  1. Compare the policy of the Bank of England in times of financial crisis with the policy of the Associated Banks of New York; and give an opinion as to which is the more effective in allaying panic.

Source: Harvard University Archives.  Examination papers in economics, 1882-1935 [of] Prof F.W. Taussig (HUC 7882), p. 53.

 

Image Source: Entry for William James Ashley in University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), p. 595.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. First Undergraduate General and Specific Exams in History, Government and Economics Division, 1916.

 

In this post we can read some of the history behind the establishment of Harvard’s undergraduate tutorial and divisional examination system for which the Division of History, Government, and Economics served as an early testing ground. The first general examination of that division along with the “specific” economics field examinations from 1916 are transcribed below.

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Backstories regarding the Division Examinations in History, Government, and Economics

History of Origin and Growth of the Tutorial System
Shows Gradual Incorporation in All Departments But Chemistry
Introduction of General Exams In Medical School Made Entrance Wedge
January 10, 1933

Excerpts from a brief history of the General Examinations and the Tutorial System recently published by the University follows below.

In the spring of 1910 a committee was appointed which examined the system prevailing in American medical schools of granting the degree upon an accumulation of credits in courses, and the European system of two general examinations, the earlier upon the general scientific or laboratory subjects and the final one upon the clinical branches. The committee recommended the adoption of the latter system, and after its provisional approval by the Faculty of Medicine in March of the following year, another committee, mainly of different members, worked out a plan which was adopted by that Faculty in October, 1911.

Adopted by Divinity School

Shortly after its adoption in the Medical School the idea of a general examination invaded departments at Cambridge. In the academic year 1911-12 it was adopted in the Divinity School for the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Theology; and in this case it seems to have worked well from the start. Meanwhile the division of History, Government and Economics had been considering the matter, and after a year of careful study formulated a plan which as sanctioned by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the winter of 1912-13. The examination was to be conducted by the division and in fact by a committee of three of its members appointed by the President, who were to be relieved of one half of their work of instruction. It was to consist of both written and oral tests, was to be required of all college students concentrating in that division, in addition to their courses, and was to go into effect with the class entering the following autumn. Authority was also given to supplement by tutorial assistance the instruction given in the courses. Thus the complete system of a general examination and tutors was set up for all undergraduates in one division, and the one which at the time had the largest number of concentrators.

Trial Seems in Danger

The plan was put into effect without serious obstacles. The number of students concentrating in these subjects did, indeed, diminish, the weaker of more timid seeking departments where no such examination barred the way; out that was no harm, and proved to be in large part a temporary effect. The preparing of examination questions, which had been supposed very difficult, was exceedingly well done by an able committee. Yet the plan was not at once wholly successful. Tutorial work was new, and men equipped for it were not to be found. They had to learn the art by their own experience, and by what they derived from an exchange of tutors for a year with Oxford and Cambridge. In fact, after a few years of trial the plan seemed in danger of breaking down. The benefits were not at once evident; some of those formerly in favor of it became skeptical, while opponents were confirmed in their opinions. Until we entered the World War the only other field of concentration which had adopted a general examination of all students for graduation was that of History and Literature, although something of the kind had long been in common use in the case of candidates for distinction or honors.

Crisis Comes After War

The crisis came at the close of the war, when the changes made for military purposes in all instruction had left matters in a somewhat fluid state. A committee of the Faculty was appointed to consider what, if any, extension of the principle could profitably be made in other fields. There was a feeling that such a system ought not to be maintained in one class of subjects alone; that it should either be abolished or extended. After a study of the question in its various phases the committee reported, and in April, 1919, the Faculty voted, that general examinations should “be established for all students concentrating in Divisions or under Committees which signify their willingness to try such examinations,” and that they “be employed for the members of the present Freshman class.” Thereupon all the divisions under the Faculty, except those dealing with mathematics and the natural sciences, decided to make the experiment. Some of them did so reluctantly, with misgiving, and under a condition that they should not be obliged to employ tutors. By the academic year 1924-25, therefore, the students in all the divisions with a general examination had the benefit of tutoring.

Adopted by All Departments

Since that time the progress of the system has been gradual but continuous. In 1926 the departments of mathematics, biology, and bio-chemical sciences adopted it; and in 1928 geology and physics were added to the list; leaving chemistry as the only department with a large number of concentrators that still retains the older methods, and its work is done so much in laboratories that its position is peculiar. The only change in the system has come from a demand by the students themselves. There has been no desire on the part of the University to abandon teaching or examination in courses by copying the practice at Oxford and Cambridge of leaving instruction wholly to the tutor, as that would have seemed ill-adapted to the habits of the College.

Source: Harvard Crimson, January 10, 1933.

 

TUTORIAL SYSTEM HEREAFTER
Rules for Concentration in History, Government and Economics Will Apply Next Year.
April 10, 1914

Beginning with the class of 1917 and applying to all subsequent classes, a new rule in regard to concentration in the Division of History, Government and Economics has been adopted.

Concentration in this Division requires at least six courses which are related to each other. Under the new system all students concentrating in this division will be required to pass in their Senior year a final examination covering their special field within the Division, and consisting of a written examination early in the spring, and an oral examination toward the close of the year. In order to prepare students for these examinations the University will provide special tutors beginning with the Sophomore year.

Only Two Introductory Courses.

Every student intending to concentrate in History, Government, and Economics should state the Department in which he will take at least four courses and the Department in which he will take the remaining two. He will not be allowed to count towards his concentration more than two of the introductory courses, History 1, Government 1, and Economics A. The aim of the system is to enforce a more accurate knowledge and comprehension of studies as a whole. This aim has frequently not been achieved owing to the wide scattering of courses.

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 10, 1914.

 

 

THE TUTORIAL SYSTEM.
April 10, 1914

There are two new features in the recently announced requirements of the Division of History, Government and Economics, namely, the general examination and the tutorial system. And they are complementary. The task of the tutor is to intelligently guide the student in his preparation for the final examination, to assist him in that organization and correlation of his work which is the key-note of the plan. His work begins where the adviser’s work ends. The adviser still superintends the choice of courses made by the student although it is to be expected, probably, that a capable tutor will tend to influence this choice. It will be impossible so sharply to distinguish the task of choosing courses and correlating them as to prevent this. The sanction of the adviser may approximate formal permission, with the guiding force held by the tutor.

The general examination on the other hand, modelled after the plan in use for doctorate examinations, including a general examination for the division work and a supplementary special test for the department or field, reaches over the whole matter of choice and organization and focuses the work of the adviser, tutor and student.

One result is inevitable, that is, the effect of producing a more serious scientific attitude toward the work. The student who chooses this Division will be presumed to have made the choice with serious intent to perfect himself in that line. The student who chose that work because he had to concentrate in something may well feel he is getting more than he bargained for. This is not a criticism; the result-to make study in that division more in the way of laboratory work, to lift it out of the region of inconsequent eclectic undergraduate education may be more serious. The decline or increase in the number of men in the Division will show to what an extent the work there is taken for serious reasons, not as a line of least resistance.

The effect in minimizing course grades, cramming, and mechanical study can only be helpful. To produce capable and broad-minded students, with a wide grasp of their field and an accurate knowledge of their specialty is the very desirable end to which the system aims. And that not by more work but by better organization.

 

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 10, 1914.

 

From the Annual Reports of the President of Harvard College

… the single course is not, and cannot be, the true unit in education. The real unit is the student. He is the only thing in education that is an end in itself. To send him forth as nearly a perfected product as possible is the aim of instruction, and anything else, the single course, the curriculum, the discipline, the influences surrounding him, are merely means to the end, which are to be judged by the way they contribute and fit into the ultimate purpose. To treat the single course as a self-sufficient unit, complete in itself, is to run a danger of losing sight of the end in the means thereto…

…In the College the problem of making the student, instead of the course, the unit in education is more difficult than in the other parts of the University, because general education is more intangible, more vague, less capable of precise analysis and definition, than training for a profession. Nevertheless, in the College, some significant steps have been taken which tend in this direction. The first was the requirement that every student must concentrate six of his seventeen courses in some definite field, must distribute six more among the other subjects of knowledge, and must do so after consulting an instructor appointed to advise him….

…The rule of concentration, coupled with the provision that no tmore than two of the six courses shall be of an elementary character, is intended to compel every man to study some subject with thoroughness, and acquire a systematic knowledge thereof….

…The second step in treating the student, instead of the course, as the unit in education, was taken by the Division of History, Government, and Economics, when, and with the approval of the Faculty, it set up the requirement of a general examination at graduation for students concentrating in that division. The examination, which is entrusted to a committee representing the three departments within the division, is to be distinct from that in the courses elected, and is to include not only the ground covered in them, but also the general field with which they have dealt, and the knowledge needed to connect them. This is a marked departure from the plan of earning a degree by scoring courses; and it will take time to adjust men’s conceptions of education to a basis new to the American college, though familiar in every European university. To assist the students in preparing themselves for the general examination each of them at the beginning of his Sophomore year is assigned to the charge of a tutor who confers with him about his work and guides his reading outside of that required in the courses. As the plan could be applied only to men entering after it was established, the first examinations will be held next spring [1916], and then only for men who graduate in three years.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, pp. 8-10.

Courses are merely a means to an end, and that end is the education of the student. One method of placing courses in their true light as a means of education is the provision of comprehensive examinations for graduation, covering the general field of the student’s principal work beyond the precise limits of the courses he has taken. This has long been done in the case of the doctorate of philosophy; and in the year covered by this report [1915-16] it was applied for the first time to undergraduates concentrating in the Division of History, Government, and Economics. Only twenty-four students of the Class of 1917, who finished their work in three years and concentrated in this field, came under its operation; but they were numerous enough to give a definite indication of the working of the plan. To that extent the results were satisfactory. The examination papers were well designed for measuring the knowledge and grasp of the subject, with a large enough range of options to include the various portions of the field covered by the different candidates; and the examiners themselves were satisfied with the plan as a fair means of testing the qualification of the students. During the coming year a much larger number of men will come up for this comprehensive examination, which promises to mark a new departure in American college methods.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, p.19.

A significant event of the year [1915-16] was the inauguration by the Division of History, Government, and Economics of its new examination of candidates for the Bachelor’s degree who have concentrated in the Division. This examination was devised “not in order to place an additional burden upon candidates for the A.B., but for the purpose of securing better correlation of the student’s work, encouraging better methods of study, and furnishing a more adequate test of real power and attainment.” In their preparation students have from the beginning of the Sophomore year special tutorial instruction. The examination embraces three tests: first, a general paper, with a large number of alternative questions, treating comprehensively the subjects of the Division; second, a special paper, covering a chosen specific field; and lastly, a supplementary oral examination which may relate to either the general or the special paper, but ordinarily bears upon the specific field. The results of the first examination, taken by a comparatively small group of men graduating in three years, are in no way conclusive. The members of the examining committee, however, think them distinctly encouraging. Twenty-four candidates appeared, of whom twenty-two passed and two failed. Their selection of questions from the general paper indicated breadth of preparation and their bearing at the oral examination showed more than a little clearness and independence of thought.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, pp.75-76.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF A. B.
1915–16

GENERAL DIVISION EXAMINATION

Part I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on one question only.

  1. Compare the Empires of Rome and of Charlemagne.
  2. Discus the influence of religious ideas on national life and institutions in the Americas.
  3. What were the principal factors in the development of the United States from (a) 1776 to 1818, or (b) 1818 to 1861, or (c) 1861 to 1898, or (d) 1898 to the present?
  4. Discuss and illustrate the economic bases of political party allegiance.
  5. Explain the influence of British policy upon international law.
  6. Why do the peoples of the temperate zones tend to assume leadership among the peoples of the earth?
  7. How does the federal form of government affect the life of a nation?
  8. Sketch the political and economic careers of two of the following: (a) Cobden, (b) Bright, (c) Hamilton, (d) Chase, (e) Colbert, (f) Jaurès.
  9. Compare English, French, and Spanish colonial methods and policies in the New World.

 

Part II

Five questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which three must be from one group. The remaining questions must be taken, one from each of the other groups, or both from one of the other groups.

 

A

  1. In what respects has Roman political organization influenced Western Europe of modern times?
  2. What has been the effect of the embodiment of nationalities in political unities during the nineteenth century?
  3. Why was the influence of Metternich so potent?
  4. Discuss as to municipalities: “The citizens may have as good government as they care to demand.”
  5. To what extent are the constitutional principles of the United States common among Central and South American States?
  6. Why were spheres of interest claimed in Africa and in Asia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
  7. To what extent and why should national party preferences be followed in state and municipal elections?
  8. In what countries has municipal government been more highly developed; why and with what results for the citizen and for the municipality?

 

B

  1. The development of the idea of the Balance of Power up to the Peace of Utrecht.
  2. Show how Europe influenced the Far East in the second half of the nineteenth century.
  3. What services did the English colonies in America render to the mother country previous to 1763?
  4. Explain the influence of pro-slavery sentiment on the expansion of the United States.
  5. Explain causes and results of European immigration into the United States within the last fifty years.
  6. Show the development of steam transportation in Europe and its results.
  7. Why are recent constitutions of states in the United States generally lengthy documents?
  8. Write briefly on five of the following: (a) Abelard, (b) Copernicus, (c) Erasmus, (d) Vasco de Gama, (e) Grotius, (f) Huss, (g) Justinian, (h) Locke, (i) Petrarch, (j) Rousseau.

 

C

  1. Is the trust a desirable feature of modern economic organization?
  2. Should England modify her policy of free trade?
  3. Trace and explain the history of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
  4. What caused the failure of the Confederacy?
  5. Analyze the three most important political aspects of the socialist movement; the three most important economic aspects.
  6. To what extent was the failure of the first Bank of the United States to secure a renewal of its charter due to political factors; to what extent, to economic?
  7. What have been the economic and political consequences of state ownership of the railways of Prussia?
  8. Account for the modern increase of public expenditures in (a) Europe; (b) American city government; (c) the Federal government of the United States.

April 27, 1916.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economic history

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Considered in its theoretical aspects the tariff policy of the United States since 1845.
  2. What factors have contributed most to changes in the distribution of wealth in the United States since 1870?
  3. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between your uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.
  4. Analyze the merits and defects of our current statistics of (a) imports and exports; or (b) wholesale prices; or (c) wages; or  (d) industrial organization.

 

B
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Compare tariff changes in England and Germany during the nineteenth century.
  2. Discuss the essential features of the labor movement in England from 1825 to 1850.
  3. What have been the different lines of development in the combination movement in England?
  4. Discussing the economic aspects of the American Revolution with respect to (a) factors contributing to the revolution; (b) resources affecting the outcome; (c) consequences of the War.
  5. Explaining any important national policies developed in the United States between 1815 and 1830.
  6. Write the monetary history of United States during one of the following periods: (a) 1792-1837; (b) 1879-1893; (c) 1893-date.
  7. Trace the history of our mercantile marine, giving special attention to significant government policies.
  8. Give a brief account of organized labor in the United States.
  9. Indicate any important changes in American agriculture since 1900.

 

C
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Has private ownership of the railroads justified itself in the United States? What is the case for and against government ownership of railroads in this country?
  2. Explain and criticise the presence policy of the Federal government regarding industrial combinations.
  3. Discuss critically the project of a non-partisan Federal tariff board.
  4. Discuss the causes, extent, and consequences of the change in the price level since 1897.

May 5, 1916.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Money and Banking

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. State and criticise the quantity theory of money.
  2. Analyze a typical bank statement.
  3. Discuss index numbers of prices with reference to (a) the purposes they may serve; (b) various methods of construction; (c) the best index numbers for wholesale prices in the United States.
  4. Where should you look for statistics of the following : (a) bank clearings of England and the United States; (b) resources and liabilities of banks in Massachusetts; (c) foreign exchange rates in New York in 1903; (d) the monetary stock of the United States; (e) current changes in the value of gold?

 

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Compare the adoption of the single gold standard by England and by Germany.
  2. To what extent, and by what means, has the financial administration of the Federal government in the United States influenced our monetary history?
  3. Give a critical account of the greenbacks from 1862 to 1878. Indicate all factors, political and other, connected with this episode of monetary history.
  4. Analyze the factors leading to the adoption of the Federal Reserve banking system. Compare these factors with those leading to the establishment of the National banking system.

 

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Describe and criticise the existing monetary system of the United States.
  2. Explain and illustrate the gold exchange monetary standard.
  3. What different meanings have been suggested for stabilizing the value of our monetary standards? What objections, if any, are to be raised against each of the proposed measures?
  4. Distinguish the different kinds of banking. To what extent should they be conducted by the same institutions? To what extent have they been combined in the United States? In any other countries?
  5. What measures have been adopted before 1914 by the Bank of England to prevent or allay financial panics? What action was taken in 1914 to meet the banking conditions created by the outbreak of the European War?
  6. Indicate any connections which have existed between the banks and the railroads within the United States.
  7. How and why has the European War affected foreign exchange between United States and other countries?
  8. Account for the financial panic of 1907. To what extent, and by what means, does the Federal Reserve system promise to prevent the recurrence of the conditions of 1907?

May 5, 1916.

__________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Corporate Organization, including Railroads

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discussed critically the “economies of industrial combination.”
  2. What official statistics throw light upon industrial organization in the United States? Criticize the available statistics of the subject.
  3. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.
  4. Enumerate the principal sources of railway statistics at the present time, Shelbi and show the content, importance, and deficiencies (if any) of each.

 

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. What has been the policy of American states with respect to business corporations?
  2. What have been the different lines of development in the combination movement in England?
  3. Compare the history of water transportation in the United States, England, and Germany.
  4. Give an account of the “trust movement” in the United States since 1898.

 

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Describe in detail how control is vested and exercised in a typical modern business corporation.
  2. Describes the formation of some large industrial combination effected in the United States since 1898.
  3. What have been the more important economic and social consequences of the corporate organization of industry?
  4. What connections exist between banks and industrial combinations in the United States? Contrast the situation here with that in Germany.
  5. Discuss the Federal Trade Commission with respect to (a) the reasons for its establishment; (b) its tenure of office and powers; (c) its probable future.
  6. Upon what different bases may railway systems be appraised? What are the merits and defects of each of the bases indicated?
  7. Discuss standards of reasonableness (a) for the general level of railway rates; (b) for rates on particular commodities.
  8. Give an account of the relations between organize labor and our railroads.
  9. What different relationships as to ownership, management, and regulation may exist between the government and public service industries? Criticise in turn each of these possible relationships.

May 5, 1916.

 

__________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Public Finance

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss critically the different theories of justice and taxation.
  2. From an accounting point of view, wherein are municipal accounts essentially unlike business accounts? What factors impair the value of municipal accounts?
  3. Outline a system of uniform municipal accounts. What provisions have been made in the United States for the use of the uniform municipal accounts?
  4. What are the chief sources of public finance statistics in the United States?

 

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Give the history of the Federal public land policy to 1835. Show any connections between the public land policy and the treatment of the public debt.
  2. Sketch the development and present status of the general property tax in this country.
  3. Givs a critical account of the Independent Treasury of the United States.
  4. Distinguish “direct” and “indirect” taxes. Describe the separation of direct and indirect taxation under our system of national and state governments. What were the reasons for this separation? What have been its consequences, economic and political?

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. For what different objects has taxation been employed? Give illustrations. What is to be said for and against the employment of taxation for each of the purposes indicated?
  2. Formulate and defend a plan for a state income tax.
  3. Discuss inheritance taxes in the United States with reference to (a) the employment of inheritance taxes by state and Federal governments; (b) The rates applied; (c) the use of progressive rates; (d) the maximum advisable rates; (e) possible effects upon the distribution of wealth.
  4. What is the case for and against the partial or complete exemption of improvements from taxation under the general property tax? Where, if at all, have such a policy been adopted?
  5. What is “double taxation”? Under what circumstances, if any, is it objectionable? Why is the problem of double taxation a serious one today in the United States? What solution can be suggested?
  6. Suppose the Federal government abolishes all import duties upon sugar and substitutes equivalent bounties on sugar production in the United States. How, if at all, does this tend to affect the distribution of wealth? When, and for what reasons, has a change similar to that supposed been actually made in the United States?
  7. To what extent, and by what process, is a tax shifted to consumers when levied upon a commodity produced (a) at constant cost? (b) at decreasing cost? (c) at increasing cost? (d) by a monopoly? Illustrate by diagrams.

May 5, 1916.

 

__________________

OTHER DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATIONS (Not transcribed here)

Modern History since 1789 including American History
American Government
Municipal Government
Political Theory

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975(HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.

Image Source:  1875 Gate at Harvard Yard. From the Wallace Nutting photographic Collection at the Historic New England website.

Categories
Economic History Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate Yale

Yale. Undergraduate Economic History of Europe. Cohen, 1972

 

Today’s post is the course outline with readings for the undergraduate course on the economic history of Europe since the Industrial Revolution that I took at Yale during the Spring semester of my junior year (1972). The course was taught by assistant professor Jon S. Cohen. 

From the perspective of today it is hard to imagine the sheer abundance of courses in economic history offered at that time. I have already posted the course outlines for Harry Miskimin’s course on the Economic History of Europe through the Industrial Revolution and William Parker’s course on U.S. Economic History, as well as Ray Powell’s course on History of the Soviet Economy.

While I must confess that I cannot summon any particular memory from the class itself beyond what I have managed to internalize from the readings below, a mere bibliographic residual, there was a later paper written by Cohen along with another one of my M.I.T. professors that possessed the needed  salience to survive in my memory to this day:

Jon S. Cohen and Martin Weitzman. A Marxian model of enclosures. Journal of Development Economics, 1975, vol. 1, issue 4, 287-336.

____________________

American Economic Association Membership Listing (1981)

Cohen, Jon S. Div. of Soc. Sci., Scarborough Coll., U. of Toronto, West Hill, ON M1C 1A4, Canada. Birth Year: 1939. Degrees: B.A. Columbia Coll., 1960; M.A., U. of Calif. at Berkeley, 1964; Ph.D., U. of Calif. at Berkeley, 1966. Prin. Cur. Position: Associate Prof., U. of Toronto, 1972-. Concurrent/Past Positions:  Asst. Prof., Yale U., 1966-72. Research: European economic history and th eeocnomics of education.

Source: Biographical Listing of Members. American Economic Review, Vol. 71, No. 6. (Dec., 1981), p. 101.

List of Publications: 1996-2019.

____________________

 

Economic History of Europe
Since the Industrial Revolution
Economics 81b (History 60b)
Spring 1972

Mr. J. Cohen
501 SSS
Ex. 63246

You are expected to read all (or large parts) of the following books:

David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus

Paul Mantoux, The Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century

E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class

T.S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution, 1760-1830

J. H. Clapham, The Economic Development of France and Germany, 1815-1914

An attempt will be made to devote at least one class meeting each week to discussion of these books and other assigned readings. Topics which will be covered and suggested reading are listed below.

I. Preliminaries to Industrialization:

A) Trade and Political Change

W. E. Minchinton (ed.), The Growth of English Overseas Trade, Introduction.

B. Moore, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Chapter I.

P. Mantoux, Part I, Chapter 2.

B) Population Change

Michael Drake (ed.), Population in Industrialization, Introduction, Chapters 3, 6, 7.

C) Agricultural Change

E. L. Jones (ed.), Agriculture and Economic Growth, Introduction, Chapter 44.

[addition, handwritten] Marx Vol. I, Part 8—Accumulation of Capital. Chapters 27-30.

P. Mantoux, Part I, Chapter 3.

II. Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

A) Industrial Change

D. Landes, Chapters 2-3.

T. Ashton, Chapter 3.

P. Mantoux, Part I, Chapter 1; Part II.

[addition, handwritten] Karl Polanyi, Great Transformation

B) Finance and Capital

P. Deane, The First Industrial Revolution, Chapters 10, 11, 13.

T. Ashton, Chapters 4-5.

C) Social and Economic Conditions

P. Mantoux, Part III.

E. P. Thompson, Part II.

T. Ashton, Chapters V-VI.

D) The Course of Economic Change After 1830

E. J. Hobsbawm, Chapters VI-IX. [Industry & Empire]

M. Dobb, Studies in the Development of Capitalism, Chapter 9.

III. Industrialization on the Continent

D. Landes, Chapters III-V.

A. Gerschenkron, Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective, Chapter 1.

J. H. Clapham, selected chapters on France and Germany [1848-1915 Germany]

B. Supple (ed.), The Experience of Economic Growth, selected chapters. [Landes, Cameron,

[addition, handwritten] Cameron (ed.), Essays in French Economic History. Claude Fohlen, Ind. Rev. in France.

IV. The International Economy to 1914

R. Triffin, Our International Monetary System, Part I, Chapter I.

R. Winks (ed.), British Imperialism, 11-51, 82-96.

V. The Interwar Period and After

W.A. Lewis, Economic Survey, 1919-1939, selected chapters.

[handwritten addition to bottom of page]

Gallagher and Robinson, The Imperialism of Free Trade. E.H.R., 1953

Eckstein (ed.), Comparison of Economic Systems: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches

Rosovsky (ed.), Industrialization in Two Systems

[handwritten addition, back of the second page of syllabus]

Possible paper topics.

  1. Enclosures and population movements in Great Britain in the 17th century
  2. Patters of enclosure in France
  3. Land markets in 18th century Britain
  4. Colonial policy in Britain—Sources of policy. Interest groups.
  5. Eric Williams—impact of slavery on Industrialization
  6. Labor movement and progress of England. Awareness, Consciousness
  7. Rise of protection and aggressive foreign policy.

Source:  Personal Copy, Irwin Collier.

Image Source: Jon S. Cohen webpage at the University of Toronto.

 

 

Categories
Economic History Economists Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate Yale

Yale. Undergraduate European Economic History through the Industrial Revolution. Miskimin, 1971

 

Reflecting on my own academic upbringing, I am increasingly amazed at the sheer abundance of economic history courses still offered at Yale and MIT in the 1970s. My first taste of economic history came with Harry Miskimin’s course on the economic history of Europe up through the Industrial Revolution. I later took a graduate course he offered on French mercantilism. I remember well the sage advice he gave me to postpone work in economic history to first get trained in the analytic tools of economics, since he thought I apparently could handle the demands of economics graduate school. I believe he was the only professor I ever had who actually smoked (cigarettes) in class. 

From the Yale Daily News Archives I learned that Harry Miskimin later served as president of the Yale chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). There is a low-resolution picture of Miskimin in his mature years in the article linked.

Below are the assigned readings for the European economic history course from the Fall Term, 1971-72.

_________________

Harry Miskimin
100% Yalie

Harry Alvin Miskimin, Jr. was born September 8, 1932 in Orange, New Jersey. He died October 24, 1995.

B.A. Yale, 1954; M.A. Yale, 1958; Ph.D. Yale, 1960. From instructor to professor history Yale University, New Haven, since 1960, associate professor, 1964-1971, professor history, since 1971, chairman department history, 1986-1989, Charles Seymour Professor of History, since 1991.

_________________

Harry Miskimin
Obituary Note

Post by Wendy Plotkin
H-Urban Co-Editor
14 January 1996

1995 saw the death of Harry A. Miskimin, the Charles Seymour Professor of History at Yale University in October. According to a press release received from H-Net Central in December, Professor Miskimin was

“An authority on the economic history of medieval and early modern Europe” and “the author of five books, including The Economy of Early Renaissance Europe, 1300-1460and The Economy of Later Renaissance Europe, 1460-1600both of which were translated in Spanish and Portuguese; Money and Power in Fifteenth Century France, Money, Prices and Foreign Exchange in Fourteenth Century Franceand Cash, Credit and Crisis in Europe, 1300-1600.”

Professor Miskimin was general editor of four volumes of the Cambridge University Press series “The Economic Civilization of Europe.”

Of special interest to H-Urban subscribers, Miskimin co-edited THE MEDIEVAL CITY with A. Udovitch and D. Herlihy (Yale University Press, 1977). This collection included:

    1. The Italian City

Herlihy, “Family and property in Renaissance Florence”
Krekic, B., “Four Florentine commercial companies in Dubrovnik (Ragusa) in the first half of the fourteenth century”
Lane, F. C. “The First Infidelities of the Venetian Lire”
Cipolla, C. M. “A Plague Doctor”
Kedar, B.Z. “The Genoese Notaries of 1382”
Hughes, D. O. “Kinsmen and neighbors in Medieval Genoa”
Peters, E. Pars, parte: “Dante and an Urban Contribution to Political Thought”

    1. The Eastern City

Udovitch, A. L. “A Tale of Two Cities”
Goitein, S. D. “A Mansion in Fustat”
Prawer, J. “Crusader Cities”
Teall, J. “Byzantine Urbanism in the Military Handbooks”

    1. The Northern City:

Miskimin, H. A. “The Legacies of London”
Munro, J. “Industrial Protectionism in Medieval Flanders”
Strayer, J.R. “The Costs and Profits of War”
Hoffmann, R. C. “Wroclaw Citizens as Rural Landholders”
Cohen, S. “The Earliest Scandinavian Towns”

Professor Miskimin was noted for his work on the “beginning of the transition from medieval to modern economies.” I am interested in reflections on this and other work of Professor Miskimin.

After obtaining his undergraduate and graduate education at Yale, he spent the rest of his career teaching at Yale College, serving as director of graduate studies for the Economic History Program after 1967.

On leave from Yale, Miskimin was for a period director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris. Although his intellectual work was on the medieval period, he participated in present day activities in his community, serving as a zoning commissioner for the Town of Woodbridge 1976-85, a member of the Woodbridge Democratic Town Committee and a board member of the Woodbridge Town Library.

Professor Miskimin was born in 1932 in East Orange, New Jersey, graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1950, and was in the U.S. Army from 1955-57.

Source: Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online

_________________

Yale University
History 51 a – Economics 80a
Mr. Miskimin
Fall Term 1971-72

The readings from this course will be in diverse sources but the student may find it convenient to purchase the books of Herbert Heaton (Economic History of Europe rev. ed., Harper & Bros., New York, 1948) and Henri Pirenne (Economic and Social History of Mediaeval Europe, Harvest Books, Harcourt, Brace, New York.)

Sept. 17

 First Class

20

 Heaton, Chapters 4, 5

22

 Heaton, Chapters 6, 7

24

 Pirenne, pp. 38-86

27

 Pirenne, pp. 87-140

29

 Pirenne, pp. 141-188

Oct. 1

 Heaton, Chapter 8

4

 Heaton Chapters 9, 10

6

 Cambridge Economic History of Europe, vol. 2, pp. 433-441, 456-92

8

 Pirenne, pp. 188-end
(Rec. Miskimin, The Economy of Early Renaissance Europe.)

11

 Heaton, Chapters 11, 12

13

 Hamilton, E. J., American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, 1601-1650. Scan thoroughly

15

 Continue Hamilton

18

 Cambridge Economic History of Europe, vol. IV, pp. 1-95.

20

 Nef, J. U., Industry and Government in France and England, 1540-1640, Great Seal Books, Cornell University Ithaca, 1957. Also in Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. XV, 1940. First half.

22

 Finish Nef

25

 Green, R.W., ed., Protestantism and Capitalism—The Weber Thesis and its Critics, D.C. Heath & Co., Boston. First half.

27

 Finish Green

29

 Heaton, Chapters 13, 14

Nov. 1

 Heaton, Chapter 15

3

 Heaton, Chapter 16

5

 Viner, Jacob, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Harper Brothers, New York. Chapter 1

8

 Viner, Chapter 2

10

 Cipolla, C. M., “The Decline of Italy,” Economic History Review, 1952, pp. 178-87. Hamilton, E. J., “The Decline of Spain,”Economic History Review, 1938, pp. 168-79

12

 Review Heaton, Chapters 13-16

15

 Hour Test (paper may be substituted)

17

 Wilson, C.H., “The Economic Decline of the Netherlands,” Economic History Review, 1939, pp. 111-127

19

 Heckscher, Eli, Mercantilism. Rev. ed., George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London, 1955, Vol. I, pp. 78-109

22

 Heckscher, Vol. I, pp. 137-78

24

 Heckscher, Vol. I, pp. 178-220

26

 Helleiner, K.F., ed., Readings in European Economic History, University of Toronto Press, 1946. Section by R. H. Tawney, pp. 143-82

29

 Helleiner, Section by Tawney, pp. 183-223

Dec. 1

 Bowden, Karpovitch, and Usher, An Economic History of Europe since 1750, pp. 45-66; Cambridge Economic History, IV, chapter V, pp. 276-308

3

 Bowden, Karpovitch, and Usher, pp. 146-96

6

 Ashton, T.S., The Industrial Revolution, 1760-1830. First third.

8

 Ashton, Second third

10

 Finish Ashton

13

 Taylor, Philip, ed., The Industrial Revolution—Triumph or Disaster? D.C. Heath & Company, Boston.

15

 Rostow, W.W., The Stages of Economic Growth, a Non-Communist Manifesto, Cambridge University Press, 1960, pp. 1-35

17

 Rostow, W.W., The Stages of Economic Growth, a Non-Communist Manifesto, Cambridge University Press, 1960, pp. 36-72

 

Source: Personal copy of Irwin Collier.

Image Source: Harry Miskimin’s 1954 Yale yearbook portrait.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Development of Industrial Society. Course outline, readings, exam. Usher, 1933-34

 

An earlier post provides biographical information as well as links to other economic history courses taught by Abbott Payson Usher at Harvard. This post provides course enrollment data, outline and reading assignments, and the final examination questions for Usher’s course on the industrial history of western Europe up through English industrialisation.

__________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 10b1 hf. Associate Professor Usher. – The Development of Modern Industrial Society, 1450-1850.

Total, 12: 10 Graduates, 2 Juniors.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1933-34, p. 85.

__________________

Reading, Economics 10b.
1933-34.

  1. Industrial Development, 1450-1850. To be completed, Oct. 30.

Bober, M.M. Karl Marx’ Interpretation of History, pp. 192-201.

Parsons, T. Capitalism in recent German Literature, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 36, pp. 641-661; vol. 37, pp. 31-51.

Usher, A.P. History of Mechanical Inventions, pp. 1-31, 221-355.

Mantoux, P. The Industrial Revolution in the 18thCentury, pp. 47-93, 193-317, 349-452.

Nef, J.U. The Rise of the British Coal Industry, I, 19-22, 165-189; II, 319-330.

Usher, A.P. Industrial History of England, 195-224, 247-271, 314-380.

Webb, S. and B. History of Trade Unionism, pp. 57-161.

  1. The reorganization of the agrarian system. To be completed, Nov. 13.

Mantoux, P. The Industrial Revolution in the 18thCentury, pp. 140-160.

Ernle, Lord. English Farmers Past and Present, (ed. 1917, 1919, 1922.) pp. 55-102, 148-175, 290-315.

Clapham, J.H. The Economic Development of France and Germany, pp. 6-52.

Renard, G. and Weulersse, G. Life and Labor in Modern Europe, pp. 205-247. (French ed. pp. 272-330.)

  1. The Rise of Economic Liberalism. To be completed, Nov. 27.

Armitage-Smith, G. Free Trade and its Results, pp. 39-61.

Marshall, Industry and Trade, (1923) 749-766. (British Move. to F.T.)

Barnes, D.G. History of the English Corn Laws, pp. 68-98, 117-156, 239-284.

Ashley, P. Modern Tariff History, (3rd. Ed.) pp. 3-132.

  1. The Beginnings of the Railroad. To be completed, Dec. 8.

Pratt, E.A. A History of Inland Transport in England, pp. 165-185, 195-257.

Usher, A.P. Industrial History of England, pp. 431-458.

Raper, C.L. Railway Transportation, pp. 61-82, 134-149, 166-177.

Clapham, J.H. Economic History of Modern Britain, I, pp. 75-97.

  1. The Rise of the Bank of England, To be completed, Dec. 22.

Richards, R.D. The Early History of Banking in England, pp. 23-64, 132-175, 189-201.

Andreades, A. History of the Bank of England, pp. 60-71, 284-294, 312-331, 370-389.

Silberling, N.J. The Financial and Monetary Policy of Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, Q.J.E., vol. 38, pp. 214-233, 397-439.

Clapham, J.H. Economic History of Modern Britain, II, pp. 333-385.

Reading Period

Economics 10b.

Readings for the graduate members of the course will be found posted in the Graduate Economics Library.

Undergraduates are to read 350 pages from any two of the following titles:

(1) Ashton, T.A., Iron and Steel in the Industrial Revolution.
(2) Nef, J.U., The Rise of the British Coal Industry.
(3) Wadsworth, A.P. and J. Mann, The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire.
(4) Chapman, S.J., The Lancashire Cotton Industry.
(5) Daniels, G.W., The Early English Cotton Industry.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, Course Outlines and Reading Lists, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics 1933-34”.

__________________

European Industry and Commerce
1450-1850
Books for review.

Moffit, Louis W. England on the eve of the Industrial Revolution.

Bowden, Witt. Industrial society in England towards the end of the eighteenth century.

Redford, Arthur. Labour migration in England, 1800-1850.

Tawney, R.H. Religion and the rise of capitalism.

Weber, Max. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.

Warner, Wellman J. The Wesleyan movement in the Industrial Revolution.
and
Grubb, Isabel. Quakerism and Industry before 1800.

Daniels, George W. The early English cotton Industry.

Wadsworth, A.P. and Mann, Julia. The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire, 1600-1780.

Unwin, George. Samuel Oldknow and the Arkwrights.

Heaton, Herbert. The Yorkshire Woollen and Worsted industries.

Ashton, Thomas. Iron and Steel in the Industrial Revolution.

Ashton, T. and Sykes, J. The Coal Industry of the eighteenth century.

Roll, Erich. An experiment in Industrial organization.

Allen G.C. The Industrial development of the Black Country.

Hovell, Mark. The Chartist movement.

Pomfret, J.E. The struggle for land in Ireland.

Albion, Robert. Forests and Sea Power.

Ackworth, A.W. Financial reconstruction in England, 1815-22.

Lord, J. Capital and Steam Power.

Brady, Alexander. William Huskisson.

Ramsay, Anna. Sir Robert Peel.

Cole, G.D.H. Life of William Cobbett.

Jenks, L.H. Migration of British Capital to 1875.

Siegfried, A. La crise Britannique au XXe siècle.

Rappard, William. La révolution industrielle et les origines de la protection légale du travail en Suisse.

Lewinski, Jan de St. L’évolution industrielle de la Belgique.

Hammond, J.L. The age of the Chartists.

Hammond, J.L and B. The skilled labourer.

______________. The rise of modern industry.

Bessemer, Sir Henry. Autobiography.

Wallas, Graham. Life of Francis Place.

Berdrow, W. Krupp: a great business man seen through his letters.

Roe, J. W. British and American Toolmakers.

[handwritten additions follow]

Ballot, Charles. L’introduction du machinisme dan l’industrie française.

Sée, H. Modern Capitalism.

Sée, H. L’Évolution commerciale et industrielle de la France.

Hauser, H. Les débuts du capitalisme.

Boissonnade, G. Colbert et la dictature du travail.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, Course Outlines and Reading Lists, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics 1933-34”.

__________________

Final Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 10b2
June 1934

I
(About one hour.)

  1. Write an essay on one of the following topics:
    1. Graduates:
      the position of Malthus in the light of historical studies of population,
      primary factors affecting the increase of population in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century,
      vital indices and the measurement of material well-being,
      biological laws of population growth,
      the processes of invention and achievement.
    2. Undergraduates:
      an episode in the history of any one of the following industries, cotton, coal, or iron,
      Sée’s concept of modern capitalism and its development, the processes of invention and achievement.

II
(About two hours.)
Answer four questions.

  1. Discuss the development of the factory system in the eighteenth century.
  2. In what ways did the introduction of crop rotations furnish motives for the enclosure of arable land.
  3. What were the purposes of the Corn Laws in the period 1815 to 1840? What was the actual effect of these laws?
  4. Describe the relations between the State and the Railways in France, 1840-1883.
  5. Sketch the development of central banking in England to 1860.

Source: Harvard University. Examination Papers, Finals 1934. (HUC 7000.28) Vol. 76 of 284.

Image Source: Abott Payson Usher faculty picture in Harvard College, Class Album 1939.