American capitalism, 1607-1800 / by Anna Rochester

Includes bibliographical references (pages 116-124) and index.

Part one: 1607-1763: England of the seventeenth century -- Merchant capital expanding -- Promoting settlement -- Displacing the Indians -- Lay of the land -- Distributing the land -- Farming in the colonies -- Furs, fisheries and forests -- Developing industries -- Barter and exchange -- Imperial restrictions on colonial business -- Depressions hit the colonies -- Class conflicts increase -- Rebellion in Virginia -- Struggles against proprietors -- Resistance to tyranny -- Tenant farmers against landlords -- "Poor but presumptuous people" -- Conflicts in southern colonies -- Wars and expansion -- Class contrasts sharpen

Part two: 1763-1800: Resentment against British measures -- Rising business interests -- Moving toward revolutionary war -- Profiting from war business -- Gains and losses -- Postwar conflicts develop -- Debtors rebel in New England -- Favoring the wealthy -- Farmers struggle against taxes -- Trade revives and expands -- Merchant capitalists in power -- Hamilton's report on manufacturers -- Factory system makes its start -- Corporations develop -- Speculating in Western lands -- After two hundred years

The author describes the early transition of feudalism to a capitalist economy in American colonies led by the merchant empires of England and the Netherlands and the further expansion of capitalism by other colonizers such as Spain, France and Portugal over the span of two centuries.

Donation from Karl and Elizabeth Niebyl