Monthly Archives: September 2015
Analyzing the Legacy of Herbert Hoover, Part 1
Republican President Herbert Hoover often takes much of the blame for the Great Depression. As president when the stock market crashed and the global economic recession hit, it seems easy to point to him as the primary cause of it … Continue reading
Posted in The Great Depression
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Inklings of a New American Perspective on Government
The Great Depression caused something to happen that had never been seen previously in American history: it prompted the middle class to sympathize with the poor, lower classes, encouraging empathy across class lines and setting the stage for a new … Continue reading
Posted in The Great Depression
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How America Failed the 1920s Global Financial System, Part 1
The global economy underwent radical change after World War I. Although global leaders at the Treaty of Versailles desired a sort of economic utopia in the aftermath of bloodshed, they unwittingly created a world that turned out quite the opposite … Continue reading
Posted in The Great Depression
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Linking Gilded Age Cultural Clashes to Modern Wealth Inequality
I previously explored how unionization failed to combat capitalistic enterprise in the Gilded Age, which led to a redefining of American cultural values concerning individualism and identity. After having made these discoveries, I wondered if there could be some economic … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Connections
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The Failure of Unionization and Triumph of Capitalistic Enterprise
Wage-labor emerged as the primary characterization of the working class during the Industrial Age, a development most lower class workers were wholly unsatisfied with. Economic need, for one, is an obvious explanation as to this fact. But the divide between labor … Continue reading
Posted in The Gilded Age
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Capital vs. Labor: Which Defines America?
In his book The Incorporation of Modern America, Alan Trachtenberg explores the confrontation between labor and capital that occurred during the Gilded Age. As the Civil War ended and the Gilded Age began, Americans accepted and even welcomed industrialization on … Continue reading
Posted in The Gilded Age
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How Bad Was Big Business Really?
I’ve always had a bias against “big business” and dominating corporations in society. This is, I think, due to my left-leaning consciousness and the subtle biases present in most of my social studies classes against centralized economic power. But reading … Continue reading
Posted in The Gilded Age
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Why Do We Value Money?
One intriguing aspect of economics is that of the value of money. How valuable is money anyway? Why is it valuable? What, “is,” currency? These are strange questions to ask, but if you dig deeper, you’ll find that they are … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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The Evolution of Monetary Systems
Picture link. As civilization has evolved and advanced, our idea of, “money,” has grown more complex. With this complexity, certain traits of a respectable monetary system have emerged. A sound economic system is critical to the successful functioning of any … Continue reading
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A Journey Through History
“History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul” — Lord Acton Welcome to my Independent Inquiry blog! Here, I explore specific time periods and themes in American history to clarify my understanding of modern … Continue reading
Posted in Reflection
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An American Inquiry 