In the first few years following the death of Charles Franklin Dunbar in 1900, two of his fields, public finance and taxation, were covered by visiting professors. This post provides the biographical timeline for the founder of the Brown University economics department, Henry Brayton Gardner, who covered one semester course “Selected Topics in the Financial History of the United States” in 1902-03. The course description, enrollment, and final exam questions immediately follow.
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Previous Guest Professors/Lecturers
on Public Finance
1901-02. Economics 7a and 7b. Financial administration; taxation [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock of Williams College.
1902-03. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation [undergraduate] taught by Edward Dana Durand of the Federal Industrial Commission, formerly from Stanford.
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Henry Brayton Gardner
Timeline
1863. Born March 26 in Providence, RI.
1884. A.B., Brown University.
1888-90. Instructor in Political Economy, Brown University. Founder of the economics department. Sole teacher of economics at Brown until 1902.
1889. Statistics of Municipal Finance (Publications of American Statistical Association, New Series, Vol. 1, No. 6).
1890. Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University.
1896. Outlines of lectures in elementary economics, Brown University. Course I, Historical and Descriptive.
1890-98. Associate Professor of Political Economy, Brown University.
1898-1819 . Professor of Political Economy, Brown University.
1919. President of the American Economic Association
1819-1923. [First] Eastman Professor of Political Economy.
1928. Retired from Brown University.
1939. Died April 22 in Providence, RI.
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Course Description, 1902-03
Originally announced as omitted
[16 1hf. Selected Topics in the Financial History of the United States. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30.]
Omitted in 1902-03.
The first object of this course will be to investigate the process through which a system of federal finance was developed in the United States. This will involve a study of the finances of the American colonies, a consideration of the experiences of the Confederation, and a detailed examination of the financial legislation of the first three decades following the adoption of the constitution. Incidentally, it will necessitate some study of colonial monetary affairs and of the theories of taxation prevalent in the eighteenth century. The second topic for investigation will be the development of the finances of the states from 1775 to 1850, with special reference to the growth of state debts and the history of the general property tax. The final topic will be the development of federal taxation since 1820, particular attention being given to the history of the internal revenue system during the last forty years.
Course 16 is open to students who have taken Economies 1, and who take or have taken History 13.
Source: Harvard University. The University Publications, New Series, No. 55 (June 14, 1902). Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1902-03, p. 50.
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Course Enrollment, 1902-03
Economics 16. 2hf. Professor Gardner (Brown University). — The Financial History of the United States.
Total 28: 1 Gr., 11 Se., 13 Ju., 2 So., 1 Other.
Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.
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ECONOMICS 162
Year-end Examination
Answer any six questions.
- Contrast the achievements of Hamilton and Gallatin during their respective administrations of the treasury.
- During what periods has an internal revenue system been employed in the United States? Sketch the system employed during the Civil War. What portions of it were made permanent?
- Outline the history of the United States debt, showing periods of increase and decrease and describing briefly the refunding operations since the Civil War. On what ground was the refunding law of 1870 criticised?
- Describe briefly the main features of the financial management of the Civil War, and mention any points in which they seem to you open to criticism.
- Outline the course of events during the period 1866-1879 which finally resulted in the resumption of specie payments.
- Describe the course of public expenditures since the Civil War.
- Describe the course of events during the period 1890-1896. How far was the deficit in the revenue a factor in the troubles of the period?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).
Image Source: Faculty portrait of Henry Brayton Gardner in the Brown University Yearbook, Liber Brunensis, Vol. XLV (1903).