“Economic and Financial History of the United States” was a course open to both undergraduate and graduate students at Harvard taught by Edwin F. Gay. The course announcement, enrollment figures, and the final examination questions come from three different sources, all of which are available on-line. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting corresponding material from the twenty economics courses offered during the 1914-15 year for which the final examination questions had been printed and subsequently published.
The course outline and reading assignments for this course in 1911 has been transcribed earlier here at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.
________________________
Course Announcement
Economics 2b. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9. Professor Gay, assisted by —.
The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; banking and currency experiences; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply; certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, and the effects of immigration. [pp. 63-4.]
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1914-15. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XI, No. 1, Part 14 (May 19, 1914).
________________________
Course Enrollment
[Economics] 2b 2hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. A. H. Cole.—Economic and Financial History of the United States.
Total 131: 30 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 30 Sophomores, 10 Others.
Source: Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, p. 59.
________________________
Final Examination
ECONOMICS 2b
- (a) In the War of 1812, as well as in the embargo period, American shipping suffered; but with peace it nourished again. So too American shipping suffered in the Civil War; while afterwards shipping declined. How do you account for this?
(b) What justification, if any, is there for the following assertion: —
“In the case of England, the mail subvention system a wise and liberal policy, while in that of the United States it was a tax on the people to support a mistaken policy.”
Is a ship subsidy policy desirable for the United States at the present time?
- Outline briefly your views as to the immediate influence of the Civil War on (a) land policy, (b) banking, (c) tariff, and (d) industrial progress North and South.
- “The currency legislation from the close of the Civil War was a series of compromises.” What compromises? Why? Resulting in what legislative Acts?
- In how far has the protective tariff been a factor in the development of the textile industries of the United States? What other factors have been operative?
Take two of the following questions.
- “Surpluses have spelled disaster to the United States.” Do you agree? When and how?
- Do you defend or oppose the movement toward industrial combination? State your reasons.
- (a) Trace the relation between the competition of the coastal cities and the development of transportation.
(b) Summarize the important provisions of the amendments to the Interstate Commerce Act?
Source: Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Ethics, Education, Fine Arts, Music in Harvard College. June 1915, pp. 45-46.
Image Source: Edwin F. Gay in Harvard Class Album, 1915.