Edmund E. Lincoln taught a two-term economic history course at Harvard. The first term was Economics 2a, European industry and commerce in the nineteenth century [already two postings here (1) Economics 2a course outline and bibliography; (2) Economics 2a course description and final examination questions]. Below a short course description and the final examination questions for the second term course, Economics 2b, Economic History of the United States. I still need to edit the long second term bibliography to include in a later posting. But those who can’t wait can still go to the copy of the List of References in Economics 2 at archive.org.
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Course Announcement and Description [1919-20]
[Economics] 2b 2hf. Economic History of the United States. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9.
Dr. E. E. Lincoln.
The aim will be to trace and explain the economic progress of the United States from the late colonial period to the present. The following are some of the topics that will be discussed: the development of agriculture and of the chief manufacturing industries; the change in foreign and domestic commerce; the history of transportation, including the early canal enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building, and the establishment of public regulation of railways; the growth and decline of the merchant marine; banking and currency experiences; the history and significance of the protective tariff policy; the movement toward industrial combination.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1919-20 (2nd edition) published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XVI, No. 45 (October 30, 1919), p. 61.
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Final Examination
Economic History of the United States
Dr. E. E. Lincoln
1920-21
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 2b
Choose any eight questions.
Answer questions in order. Plan your answers carefully before writing.
- Justify if possible, from the economic point of view, the following statement: “The Constitution of the United States was not based solely upon high ideals or upon abstract theories, but was a practical compromise between many conflicting interests.”
- Trace carefully the effect of wars upon the development of the American mercantile marine from 1789 to the present time.
- Show a clear knowledge of at least three state banking systems before the Civil War.
- Give a critical summary of the Government’s policy toward railroad labor from 1888 to the present time.
- Discuss in outline the chief movements in the eras outlined in the following extracts from Carver’s “Principles of Rural Economics”: “The agricultural as well as the political history of the United States is divided into two eras. The first is the Colonial era lasting from 1607 to 1776. The second is the era of national development, lasting from 1776 to our own time. This era of national development, however, is divisible into four distinct periods: first, from 1776 to 1833; second, from 1833 to 1864; third, from 1864 to 1888; and fourth from 1888 to the present time.”
- Explain and comment upon the statement that “the Tariff Act of 1913 manifested a great change of purpose and attitude and embodied a reversal of policy unique since the Civil War.”
- Write brief notes upon the following topics: The Navigation Acts, The Stamp Duties, the “Crédit Mobilier,” the Plumb Plan, the Webb Act.
- Explain the methods of operation and the economic significance of the “Anthracite Coal Combination.”
- Show a clear knowledge of the development of any one industry in the United States.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 63 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Set for Final Examinations: History, Church History, … , Economics, … , Fine Arts, Music, June, 1921. pp. 55-56.
Image Source: Edmund E. Lincoln from Harvard Class Album 1920.