Economic History

  • Colonies Specialized in Dif. Things

    New England- trading, whaling
    Middle Colonies- Grain, agriculture
    Chesapeake- agriculture (tobacco, cotton)
  • Mercantilism

    Brit. didn't really care what colonies did as long as they gave some profit to brit (US smuggled goods anyway)
  • end of salutary neglect

    bc of 7yrs war. stamp act, tea act, sugar act, etc. US got so mad, eventually started Rev.
  • Nonimportation Agreements

    US didn't buy or sell goods from Europe to protest
  • Bank of United States

    Hamilton's financial plan: BUS, excise tax, funding at par, assumption of state debts, tariffs
  • King Cotton

    south was very dependent on cotton. rest of the world and US relied on south
  • Embargo Act

    Brit and France wouldn't stop interfering with US trade, so US banned ALL countries from importing/exporting goods. very bad for economy
  • Clay's American Plan

    Bank of US
    Internal Improvement
    Tariffs
  • Transportation & Market Rev.

    creation of railroads, steamships, etc. helped unite the country and was good for economy
  • Panic of 1834

    bc jackson hated the BUS, so he took all money out of it, made "pet banks"
  • Laissez Faire

    "hands off" approach to government during the Gilded Age
  • Progressive Era Reforms

    reaction to gilded age, end of laissez faire. TR, Taft, and Wilson. Fought big industries (Sherman Antitrust Act, Interstate Commerce Act)
  • World War 1

    was good for economy bc it wasn't fought on US soil
  • Roaring 20s

    Economic prosperity (not for all). new inventions, post-WWI
  • Great Depression

    stock market crash in 1929. horrible for economy, many unemployed, banks failed, etc
  • New Deal

    FDR's way to end G.D. US became a limited welfare state (Medicare/aid, social security, CCC, etc)
  • World War 2

    very good for economy (same reasons as WWI). brought the US out of great depression
  • Vietnam War

    VERY expensive, brought US into debt
  • Great Society

    LBJ's economic policy. Very similar to New Deal, except it had more to do with Civil Rights
  • Reaganomics

    Denounced "big government" (even though gov. grew), less taxes, return to laissez faire to end stagflation
  • NAFTA

    no tariffs between all of north america. ppl were scared of outsourcing jobs