-
The End of Salutary Neglect
Following the French and Indian War, Britain began to control more of the colonies' activities. Before the war, the each colony had its own legislatures and could control taxes on goods. Britain was in debt and it saw the colonies as untapped revenue. This created tensions that would eventually lead to war. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a law passed by Parliament which amended the Molasses Act of 1733. It lowered the duty on foreign molasses to decrease bribing, it made shipping colonial goods more complicated, and it tried smugglers in unfair vice-admirality courts, not colonial courts. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was the first internal tax given to the colonies by the British Parliament. The Stamp Act obliged colonist to buy watermarked paper for newspapers and official documents. This outraged the colonist because they were supposed to be self-governed. Representatives from nine of the colonies came togethor to form the Stamp Act Congress, which planned out a unified protest against the tax. -
Townshend Duties (Revenue Act)
The Townshend Duties were a series of eternal taxes placed on goods coming into the colonies. There were taxes placed on glass, lead, paper and most importantly, tea. The purpose of these taxes was to gain revenue. Colonists were angered by these taxes because they did not have any representation in Parliament so they could not have a say in whether taxes should be implemented. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was a move made by Lord North to save the failing British East Indian Company. It removed all import duties from the tea and alowed the company to sell directly to consumers. The colonists resisted this because if they complied then they would be supporting the taxes Britain was placing on them. In response to the Tea act, the Sons of Liberty raided a tea boat and dumped the crates into the boston harbor. -
Hamilton's Policies
Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of the treasury under Washington. He propsed many economic policies that helped the new nation. One such plan was in his Reports on Public Credit where he propsed to sell government bonds to pay of the $54 million debt. Also he propsed to keep a perpetua debt in order to have good credit. -
First National Bank
The Bank of the United States was Proposed by Hamilton. The purpose was to make inexpensive loans to the governement, have a safe place for government to deposit tax revenues and to fight deflation of currency. Some prominent opponents to the Bank were Madison and Jefferson who believed that the bank was not permitted by the Constitution. -
The Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion took place in western Pennslyvania by rye and corn farmers. Because it was hard to export raw crops to the east, farmers would distill their crops into whiskey. However, when the excise tax domestic whiskey was enacted, the farmers rebelled. They tarred and feathered tax collectors not unlike in the Revolution. They eventually turned even more violent and the rebellion was eventually put down by George Washington. -
The Embargo Act
The Embargo Act of 1807 banned all American ships from leaving American ports for foreign ports. This pupose of this act was to "peacefully coerce" Britain and France to leave America neutral in their war. This however had very harmful effects on the US economy. Dock workers and sailors were unemployed, farmers couldn't pay off debts and had to sell their land, and the European nation were not affected much. -
Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was caused by States' banks putting out to many bank notes which could not all be redeemed for specie. Also farmers were borrowing more for land and plant more crops. They depended on the European market which took a downturn. State banks became indebted to the National Bank so they had to demand the repayment of loan from landowners which drove farm prices down. -
The Bank War
The Bank War was the dispute between Jackson and the democrats against the Second Bank of the United States and Repulicans like Henry Clay. They disagreed on the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson felt that the bank only helped the rich and hurt the poor. Jackson was able to kill the bank by moving federal deposits into state banks against the wishes of Congress -
Panic of 1837
A recession that began in 1837 when banks in New York stopped redeeming paper money for gold. The causes of the recession included a collapse in a land speculation bubble and Jacksonian monetary policy. -
Homestead Act
Gave 160 acres of land to any US citizen who met certain requirements and submitted proof of improvements. The act was often abused by railroads in West in order to gain large amounts of land. -
Period: to
Industrialization
Industrialization in the United States changed the economic and social climate in the United States irreversibly. The shift of economy from primarily agriculture based to primarily manufacturing resulted in the large amount of labor unions that formed during this time period. Demand for skilled labor went down with demand for unskilled labor going up due to the effects of automation. Overall, INustrialization caused wealth to be transfered from small businesses to the owners of large ones. -
Interstate Commmerce Act
This act set up the Interstate Commerce Comission. The purpose of the ICC was to regulate Railroad companies by banning pooling, rebates, and discriminitory short-distance rates. However, these bans were overturned in the Supreme Court. The ICC did not gain any real power until the Hepburn Act (1906) -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
It Outlawed any trusts from restraining trade. Because of its unclear definitions of "trusts" and "restraint of trade", the act was rarely affective. During the Gilded Age, it was used to break up strikes. However, in the Progessive era Presidents like Theodore Rossevelt used it to break up trusts, as originally intended. -
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
The Silver Purchase Act required the US to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion every month which would back the US dollar as well as gold. This was a major change because before this act, the dollar was only backed by gold. The purpose of this act was to inflate the value of the dollar making it easier for farmers to pay their debts. This act was passed in tandem to the McKinley Tariff of 1890. A staunch supporter of this act was William Jennings Bryan, the Populist Party leader. -
McKinley Tariff
The McKInley Tariff boosted protective tariff rates of nearly 50 percent on average for many American products. Big Business supported the high tariff because it kept out foreign competition. However, consumers were upset because a high tariff means that the prices for good will also be higher (companies do not have to worry about competetors charging lower if they overcharge). -
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was the worst economic recession before the Great Depression. One of the causes of the Panic was the drop in wheat prices. Also, President Grover Cleveland believed that the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was to blame, and he got COngress to repeal the act. The reason that it became so bad is because at the time, money in the banks was not insured meaning if the bank closed, you lost your money. There was a massive rush to withdraw money from the banks; making the situation worse -
Roosevelt's Square Deal
There were three basic principles of the Square deal: control of coporations, conservation of natural resources and consumer protection. -
Period: to
Progressive era
Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were the presidents of the progressive era. The worked to bust trusts, pass regulatory legislation, and reform economic policies -
Elkins Act
The Elkins act got rid of rebates on railroads -
Hepburn Act
The Hepburn Act regulated the railroads. It gave the ICC to set maximum rates and it eliminated freee passes. -
Payne-Aldrich Tariff
This action to raise tariffs was supported by conservative republicans as well as President Taft. However this bill angered Progressives who wanted to lower the protective tariffs and bring American companies into a more competitive market. -
Triple Wall of Privilege
Wilson's economic platform for his campaign was to reform the triple wall of privilege. The Triple Wall of Privilege, as defined by Wilson, is made up of three components: the tariff, the banking system, and the trusts. The things, WIlson said, helped the rich and hurt the poor. -
16th Amendment
The 16th Amendment put in place a natonal graduated income tax. The reason for this was because the government needed to replace the income source that tariffs brought in with something else. -
Underwood Simmons Tariff Act
This act cut tariffs by fifty percent. Wilson supported this act because it helped end the triple wall of privilege. -
Federal Reserve Act
Created 12 regional banks to oversee the banking system. This helped regulate the banks and protected consumers. Wilson supported this act because it fixed the second part of the triple wall of privilege, the banking system. -
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
The Clayton Anti-trust Act specified what a trust was, specifically exempted labor unions and created the Federal Trade Commision. The FTC made sure that companies were using truthful advertising. This was the final step in ending the triple wall of privilege that WIlson campaigned against. -
Period: to
The New Deal
The New Deal was a trend of government involvement in the economy that lasted from the beginning of FDR's presidency to around the late 1930's when Republicans gained a majority in Congress and FDR was unable to continue passing New Deal legislation. -
Period: to
World War II
World War II involved increased government involvement in the economy for the purpose of redirecting economic resources to the war effort. -
WWII Income Tax Increase
In order for the United Staes to pay for the war, it needed more money. This money was mostly generated through increased taxes and loans. The highest income tax bracket was lowered from $5 million to $200 thousand. Furthermore deductions and exemptions were reduced and the minimum income to pay taxes was lowered. -
War Production Board
The War Production Board (WPB) was created by the Roosevelt Administration in order to oversee the production of the instruments of war. The WPB worked with state war production boards to contract factories that usually made consumer goods to produce war goods. car factories made tanks, typewriter factories made machine guns, and so on. The WPB made sure the materials for these goods were allocated correctly and it also encouraged civlians to donate scrap metal. -
Office of Price Administration
The Office of Price Administration (OPA) became an independent agency on January 30, 1942. It was set up by the Roosevelt Administration and it set ceiling prices on almost all goods. It also rationed scarce goods like tires, shoes, and other military nesssesities. The OPA was one of the many ways that the government regulated the government in order to fight the war more effectively. -
Smith-Connally Act
The Smith-Connally Act at allowed the executive branch to seize an industry that produced war goods if it was under or threatened by a strike. President Roosevelt vetoed it, but Congress overruled. This act shows how the government became more directly involved in the economy during the war. -
Period: to
Post-War Prosperity
A period of great economic growth in the US that immediately followed World War II. -
Taft-Hartley Act
The Taft-Hartley Act is a law enacted despite President Truman's veto that limited the powers of labor unions, in stark contrasty to the Wagner Act of 1935, which greatly expanded the powers of unions -
Period: to
Stagflation in the '70s
In the 1970's, stagflation (simultaneous high unemployment and high inflation) plagued American society. This was in stark contrast to the period of growth that the US experienced after World War II. -
1973 Oil Crisis
OPEC embargoes the US and prevents oil from OPEC nations from reaching the US as a response to US support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. The embargo caused gas prices to skyrocket and fuel rationing to be put in place.
