Category: Courses

Harvard’s expansion of its course offerings in political economy starting in 1883-84 was a major milestone in university instruction in economics in the United States. A report from the Harvard Crimson and another from New York Post have been posted earlier in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Following up the previous post that provided J. Laurence Laughlin’s thoughts from 1885 about how to best teach economics, thick descriptions of the Harvard courses in political economy listed for 1884-85 can be found below. The chapter from which the excerpts have been transcribed is in the same volume in which Richard Ely contributed a chapter, “On Methods of Teaching Political Economy” that was cited by Laughlin.  

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Excerpts from:

THE COURSES OF STUDY IN HISTORY, ROMAN LAW, AND POLITICAL ECONOMY, AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY.¹
By Henry E. Scott, Harvard University.

A DESCRIPTION of the ground covered and of the methods used in the various courses in History and Political Science at Harvard must necessarily be preceded by a brief statement of the circumstances under which these studies are pursued there.

In the first place, all the courses offered in these branches — and in almost all other branches as well — are purely elective. The University requires each year a certain amount of work from every undergraduate who is a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts; but, with the exception of about two-fifths of the work of the Freshman year, and certain prescribed written exercises in English in the Sophomore, Junior and Senior years, the undergraduate has full liberty to select any course in any subject which his previous training qualifies him to pursue. The courses in History and in Political Science may therefore be elected by any undergraduate, by the Freshman as well as by the Senior; and they are also, it may be added, open to the students of the various professional schools embraced in the University, to resident graduates, and to special students whether graduates or not.

¹In the preparation of the following article, the writer has been greatly assisted by the instructors in the several courses described, and their statements have been incorporated in the text with but little change.

[168]
In order to provide suitable recognition for those students who have confined their college work to one or two special fields, Honors of two grades — Honorsand Highest Honors — are awarded at graduation in almost all branches in which instruction is offered. The candidate for Honors in History or in Political Science must have taken in the department selected six full courses or their equivalent, i.e., he must have devoted to it about one-half of his last three years as an undergraduate, four full courses or their equivalent being the amount of elective work required each year of Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors; and he must have passed with great credit the regular examinations in those courses, and also, shortly before Commencement, a special examination covering all the six courses in question. Students who do not care to specialize to the extent necessary to obtain Honors can yet, by doing creditably about one-half as much work (i.e., by taking three full courses) in any one subject, receive at graduation Honorable Mention in that subject.

To pursue with advantage studies in History or in Political Science, the student must have easy access to books; and, in order to place within his reach the principal sources, authorities, and other helps necessary for the study of a given course, the system of “reserved books” was established some years ago in the Harvard College Library. The instructors in the various departments request the Library authorities to place upon the shelves of certain alcoves, assigned for this purpose in the reading-room of the Library, the books used by their classes for collateral reading and reference. The books thus reserved can be taken from the shelves by the students themselves without the formality of oral or written orders, and can be consulted in the Library during the day. At the close of library hours, they may, if properly charged, be taken out for the ensuing night only, [169] the borrowers promising to return them at 9 a.m. the next day. The right to use the reserved books is not limited to those students who take the particular course for which certain books have been reserved, but all persons entitled to the privileges of the Library are likewise entitled to use all the reserved books, the purpose of the system being not to withdraw the works from general use for the benefit of a narrow circle, but rather so to regulate their use that the greatest possible number of students may be able to consult them. Persons engaged in special investigations can, if necessary, obtain cards of admission to the shelves where the material they wish to use is stored; but, for the ordinary student, the reserved books, together with those ordered from the Library in the usual way, are sufficient.

The courses of instruction which are now to be described are classified — as are all courses offered in the College — as courses or half-courses, according to the amount of work required of the student and the number of exercises a week, a course having either three or two exercises a week, a half-course either two or one.¹ Some of the courses are given every year, others every two years, others twice in three years. The more advanced courses can be taken only by special permission of the instructors, to obtain which students must give evidence of their ability to do the work expected of them. There are announced this year (1884-85) in the official pamphlet sixteen courses and two half-courses in History, one course and two half-courses in Roman Law, and four courses and four half-courses in Political Economy. There are actually given this year eleven courses and two half-courses in History, one course in Roman Law, and four courses and three half-courses in Political Economy,

¹In the following description the half-courses are especially designated as such.

[170] the remaining courses being omitted in accordance with the arrangements mentioned above or for special reasons. The average number of hours of instruction per week devoted this year to History is thirty; to Roman Law, three; to Political Economy, fifteen.

[…]

THE COURSES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Political Economy 1 (Mill’s “Principles of Political Economy “; Lectures on Banking and the Financial Legislation of the United States; three hours a week, Professor Dunbar and Assistant-Professor Laughlin) is designed (1) to provide for those students who intend to continue their economic studies for more than one year a suitable introduction to the elementary principles of the science, and their application to questions of practical interest; and (2) to furnish students whose time is chiefly devoted to other departments of study with that general knowledge of and training in Political Economy which all men of liberal education should desire. It has, therefore, its theoretical and its practical side. In the present year (1884-85) the new edition of Mill, prepared by Professor Laughlin, serves as a text-book for the main part of the course, and the remaining time is occupied by lectures on the elements of banking and the public finance of the United States (especially in the last quarter of a century). The instructor holds that for a course in the elements of Political Economy, where it is eminently desirable that the student should assimilate principles rather than memorize explanations of each subject, neither the recitation system nor the lecture system is best fitted, but that a judicious mixture of both is necessary; for the object of the instruction is in general not merely to give men facts, but to lead them to think. The text-book is supposed to furnish to the student a clear statement of the principles that are to be taken up at a given exercise. Then in the class-room the instructor, by questions, and by drawing the men into discussion and the free expression of difficulties, endeavors as much as possible to fix the knowledge of principles in the mind of the students, and to direct their attention to the workings of these principles in concrete cases. Graphic [186] representations of facts (such, for example, as are given by the charts in the text-book referred to) are often used to make the relation between theory and practice still clearer; and statements from the newspapers in regard to economic matters are sometimes read in the class-room, in order to test the student’s ability in applying abstract principles to the affairs of every-day life. To give the students practice in making accurate statements, questions are now and then written on the blackboard and answered in writing within fifteen minutes, and at the next hour these answers are criticised and discussed.

In the lectures on the elements of banking and finance in the latter part of the year, the three functions of banking — deposit, issue, and discount — are illustrated by references to the system of National Banks, of the old United States Banks, and of the Bank of England; and the sub-treasury system, the national debt, the methods of raising revenue during the war, the issue of legal tender paper, the resumption of specie payments, etc., are some of the topics discussed, Professor Dunbar’s pamphlet entitled “Extracts from the Laws of the United States relating to Currency and Finance” serving as a basis for the lectures on finance.

Political Economy 2 (History of Economic Theory — Examination of Selections from Leading Writers, three hours a week, Professor Dunbar) was in former years conducted by taking up, in the earlier part of the year, Cairnes’s “Leading Principles,” and, in the later part, some book of which the discussion and criticism would bring out more clearly the meaning of the generally accepted doctrines. Carey’s “Social Science,” [three volumes: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3] George’s “Progress and Poverty,” Shadwell’s ”Principles” — books which put the “orthodox” student in a defensive attitude — were used for this purpose. In addition, lectures were given on the history of political economy, and on examples of the working in practice of its principles, such as the working of the principles of international trade in the payment of the Franco-German indemnity in 1871-73, the commercial crisis of 1857, etc.

For the present year (1884-85) the course is remodelled. Nothing in the nature of a text-book is used. The subject is treated by topics. Such questions as the wages-fund controversy, the theory of international trade, the method of political economy, the theory of value, are to be taken up in succession. On each topic references to leading writers will be submitted to the students for examination and discussion. On the wages-fund question, for example, Mill’s retractation in the “Fortnightly Review” of his original views, Cairnes’s restatement of the theory, F. A. Walker’s position as found in his “Wages Question” and his “Political Economy,” George’s criticism of current views in “Progress and Poverty” will be read and discussed. The history of political economy is to be taken up in a similar way, by reference to characteristic extracts from the writings of the Physiocrats, Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Senior, Say, Bastiat, and their successors and critics in England and on the Continent. These extracts, read beforehand by the students and discussed in the class-room, will be supplemented by the comments and explanations of the instructor. By this method it is hoped that some familiarity with the literature of the subject will be obtained, as well as a more exact comprehension of its doctrines than can come from an elementary study like that of Course 1.

In Political Economy 3 (Discussion of Practical Economic Questions — Lectures and Theses, three hours a week, Assistant-Professor Laughlin) it is expected that the student, who is supposed now to have grasped firmly the general principles of political economy by at least one year’s previous study, will apply these principles to the work of examining [188] some of the prominent questions of the day, such as the navigation laws and American shipping, bimetallism, reciprocity with Canada, government and national bank issues, etc. At the beginning of each topic a general outline of the subject and its principal divisions is given by the instructor, together with more or less particular references to the most important authorities; but a complete list of books is not always furnished, the student being rather encouraged to hunt for material himself. The exercise in the class-room takes the form rather of a discussion than a formal lecture, references to authorities being given previous to each meeting, as the following examples will show: —

Standards of Value, see Jevons, “Money and the Mechanism of Exchange,” chaps, iii, xxv; S. Dana Horton, “Gold and Silver,” chap.iv, p. 36; F. A. Walker, “Political Economy,” pp. 363-368, “Money, Trade, and Industry,” pp. 56-77; Wolowski, “L’Or et l’Argent,” pp. 7, 22, 207; Mill, “Principles of Political Economy,” book iii, chap, xv; Walras, “Journal des Économistes,” October, 1882, pp. 5-13.

The third hour of the week (and also the mid-year examination) can be omitted by men who promise to prepare one considerable thesis (due in April) on a subject connected with some practical question of the day which has not been discussed in the class-room. Examples of such subjects are: the warehousing system; a commercial treaty with Mexico; the public land system; the remedy for our surplus of revenue; municipal taxation; characteristics of socialism in the United States; co-operation in the United States (productive and distributive co-operation, industrial partnerships, and cooperative banks); advantages and disadvantages of small holdings.

Political Economy 4 (Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War, three hours a week, Professor Dunbar) serves to connect Political Economy with  [189] History. It requires no previous study of Political Economy, although some historical knowledge of the period is presupposed. Among the more prominent subjects taken up are: the rise of the modern manufacturing system, more particularly in cottons, woolens, iron; the steam engine; the economic effects of American Independence and of the French Revolution; the factory system; the migration of labor; improved transportation by railroads and steamships; the application of liberal ideas to international trade; the new gold of California and Australia; the economic effects of the Civil War in the United States; American grain in Europe; the Suez Canal; the crisis of 1873, and commercial crises in general; the development of banking; and the resumption of specie payments in the United States.

The course is chiefly narrative, and is carried on by lectures, supplemented by references for collateral reading. A printed list of topics is distributed to the students, containing a summary of the lectures and references to books reserved in the Library. An extract from this list will most clearly indicate its character and purpose. It gives the topics and references for the first lecture on the new gold supply: —

Lecture XLVII. — The discovery of gold in California: “Robinson’s California” (see Larkin’s and Mason‘s Reports, pp. 17, 33); also Exec. Doc. of U. S., 1848, i, 1. — The discovery in Australia: Westgarth, “Colony of Victoria,” 122,315. — Establishment of miners’ customs: Wood,”Sixteen Months in the Gold Diggings,” 125; Lalor’s “Cyclopaedia,” ii, 851. — Increased supply of precious metals in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries small in proportion to that in nineteenth century: Soetbeer, “Edelmetall-Production” (in Petermann’s “Mittheilungen”), Plate 3; “Walker on Money,” Part I, chaps, vii, viii. — The discoveries of 1848 and 1851 needed to give effect to influences already stimulating trade and commerce.

Similar topics and references are given for each of the eighty or ninety lectures.

[190] In Political Economy 5 (Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, and Germany—Lectures and Theses, one hour a week, counting as a half-course, Assistant-Professor Laughlin) a branch of the science that has been but slightly considered in Course 1 is taken up, and, as in the other practical courses, an attempt is made to apply principles to facts. The following extract from the official pamphlet, describing the courses of study in Political Economy, will indicate the ground covered: —

“This course covers the questions now of political importance in England, Ireland, France, and Germany in their economic aspects, and embraces the following subjects: — In England: the land laws; relative position of landlord, tenant, and laborer in the last one hundred years; tenant-right; leases; prices and importation of grain; repeal of the corn-laws; American competition; peasant proprietorship. In Ireland: the ancient tribal customs; English conquests; relations of landlord and tenant; security of tenure; Ulster tenant-right; absenteeism; parliamentary legislation; acts of 1869, 1870, 1881, 1882; population; prices of food and labor. In France: feudal burdens on land; relation of classes, and condition of peasantry and agriculture before the Revolution; small holdings and the law of equal division; present condition of peasantry and agriculture; growth of population; statistics of production, wages, prices; peasant proprietorship. In Germany: reforms of Stein and Hardenberg; condition of agriculture; peasant proprietors; statistics of wages and prices.”

A subject taken up (for example, English land tenures) is divided into topics, some of which are treated by the instructor by means of lectures, others are assigned to the individual members of the class, who are expected to present the results of their study in writing. These short theses are criticised and discussed by the instructor and the class, authorities that have been overlooked are pointed out, and suggestions are made as to the way in which the question can be better handled. Perhaps five or six of these papers [191] are required from each student during the year, the intention being that at least one shall be handed in each week. As the natural tendency of such work is to “compile,” much more consideration is given to the quality than to the quantity of the thesis.

In Political Economy 6 (History of Tariff Legislation in the United States, one hour a week, counting as a half- course, Dr. Taussig) the history of tariff legislation from 1789 to the present day is studied. The method of instruction is by lectures and collateral reading, specific references being given beforehand on the subjects to be taken up; for example, the references on the tariff act of 1789 are as follows: Hamilton’s “Life of Hamilton,” iv, 2-7; Adams, “Taxation in United States,” 1-30, especially 27-30; Sumner, “History of Protection,” 21-25; Young’s “Report on Tariff Legislation,” pp. iv-xvi. Similar references are given when the economic effects of the tariff, more particularly in recent years, are discussed. The class-room work is based on the assumption that the passages referred to have been read by the students, and, though mainly carried on by lectures, includes questioning and discussion on the references. The economic principles bearing on tariff legislation are taken up in connection with the more important public utterances on the subject, such as Hamilton’s “Report on Manufactures,” Gallatin’s “Memorial of 1832,” Walker’s “Treasury Report of 1845,” and the speeches of Webster, Clay, and others. These are read by the students, and discussed in the class; and at the same time with them are considered the views of writers on the theory of economic science. In the course of the year the various arguments pro and con in the protection controversy are, in one shape or another, encountered and discussed. Towards the close of the year lectures are given on the tariff history of England, France, and Germany.

[192] Political Economy 7 (Comparison of the Financial Systems of France, England, Germany, and the United States, one hour a week, counting as a half-course, Professor Dunbar) deals with the principles of finance, and with the financial systems of the more important civilized countries. The budgets of France, Germany, and England are examined and compared, the financial methods of the United States are noted, and the principles of finance and the advantages and disadvantages of different taxes are discussed. The instruction is mainly by lectures. The course is not given in the present year (1884-85), and may be omitted in future years, though it will be retained on the elective list.

In Political Economy 8 (History of Financial Legislation in the United States, one hour a week, counting as a half- course, Professor Dunbar) the funding of the Revolutionary debt, the establishment and working of the first Bank of the United States, the financial policy of Hamilton and Gallatin, the effect of the War of 1812 on the finances and the currency, the establishment of the second Bank of the United States, the fall of the bank in Jackson’s time, and the years 1836-40, the independent treasury, the State banking system, the growth of the public debt during the Civil War, and its reduction and conversion since, the establishment and working of the National Bank system, — are the topics successively considered. The method of instruction is by lectures and by reference to the public documents and other writings bearing on the subject. It is advised by the instructors that Courses 6 and 8 in Political Economy be taken together; and this advice has been followed, most students who take one of these courses being also members of the other.

Source:  Henry E. Scott, “The Courses of Study in History, Roman Law, and Political Economy at Harvard University”  Vol. I. Methods of Teaching History (pp. 167-170, 185-192) in the series Pedagogical Library, edited by G. Stanley Hall. Boston: D.C. Heath & Company, second edition, 1885.

Image Source:  Charles F. Dunbar (left) and Frank W. Taussig (right) from E. H. Jackson and R. W. Hunter, Portraits of the Harvard Faculty (1892); J. Laurence Laughlin (middle) from Marion Talbot. More Than Lore: Reminiscences of Marion Talbot, Dean of Women, The University of Chicago, 1892-1925. Chicago: University of Chicago (1936).