1783-1815: Business and the Economy: Publications

John Frederick Amelung, Remarks on Manufactures, principally on the new established glass-house, near FrederickTown, in the State of Maryland (Frederick, Md., 1788)—a German immigrant and manufacturer calls for the U.S. government to encourage industry by granting monopolies to certain businesses;

Tenche Coxe, A brief examination of Lord Sheffield’s Observations on the Commerce of the United States of America (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1791)—Coxe responds to Lord Sheffield’s arguments that Britain should continue to constrain American trade;

Coxe, An enquiry into the principles, on which a commercial system for the United States of America should be founded (Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Aitken, 1787)—the author advocates congressional control over American trade, arguing that agriculture is the basis for American wealth; this pamphlet was written for members of the Constitutional Convention;

Coxe, A Statement of the Arts and Manufactures of the United States of America for the year 1810 (Philadelphia, 1814)—a discussion of household manufacturing, brought on by the Embargo of 1807 shutting out imported goods;

Samuel Freeman, A Valuable Assistant to Every Man; or, the American Clerk’s Magazine, second edition (Boston: Isaiah Thomas and E. T. Andrews, 1795)—provides information on exchange rates of various currencies and bank notes;

Albert Gallatin, A Sketch of the Finances of the United States (New York: William A. Davis, 1796)—Republican leader and later secretary of the treasury presents a plan for paying the national debt;

Gallatin, Views of the Public Debt, Receipts, & Expenditures of the United States (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1801)—Treasury Secretary Gallatin’s plan for paying national debt in sixteen years;

Alexander Hamilton, The argument of the Secretary of the Treasury upon the Constitutionality of a National Bank (Philadelphia, 1791)—Hamilton’s argument that a national bank is constitutional;

John Holroyd, Earl of Sheffield, Observations on the commerce of the American States with Europe and the West Indies (London: J. Debrett, 1783)—Sheffield called for British restrictions against American trade, arguing that England could prevent the Americans from achieving economic independence;

Charles Jared Ingersoll, A View of the Rights and Wrongs, power and policy, of the United States of America (Philadelphia, 1808)—a Philadelphia lawyer endorsed Jefferson’s embargo as a way of preventing the United States from developing into an industrial country like England;

Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the establishment of a money unit and of a coinage for the United States (Maryland, 1784)—Jefferson’s proposal for minting American coins rather than relying on European currency;

Jefferson, Observations on the Whale Fishery (Paris: Printed by Jacques-Gabriel Clousier, 1788)—as American minister to France, Jefferson wrote a detailed study of whaling to convince the French of the value of American trade;

George Logan, Five Letters, Addressed to the Yeomanry of the United States, containing some Observations on the Dangerous Scheme of Governor Duer and Mr. Secretary Hamilton, to Establish National Manufactories (Philadelphia: Eleazer Oswald, 1792)—an attack on Hamilton’s Society for Useful Manufactories;

Logan, A Letter to the Citizens of Pennsylvania, on the Necessity of Promoting Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Useful Arts (Lancaster, Penn.: W. & R. Dickson, 1800)—though Logan opposed Hamilton’s industrial system, he called for domestic manufacturing that would fit in with Republican ideology;

James Richardson, An Oration, Describing the Influence of Commerce, on the Prosperity, Character and Genius of Nations (Boston: Russell & Cutler, 1808)—an address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society in Cambridge attacking the Embargo for destroying commerce, which was the source of industry, enterprise, and civilization;

James Sullivan, The Path to Riches: An Inquiry into the Origin and Use of Money; and into the Principles of Stocks and Banks (Boston: I. Thomas & E. T. Andrews, 1792)—urges Americans to choose honest commerce over corrupt or avaricious pursuits;

Thomas Thacher, The Principles and Maxims on which the Security and Happiness of a Republic Depend (Boston: Munroe & French, 1811)—a New England clergyman attacks the commercial policies of the Madison administration;

Pelatiah Webster, Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, Public Finances, and other Subjects: Published during the American War and Continued to the Present Year, 1791 (Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1791)—a former clergyman turned merchant argues against paper currency in favor of a stronger government to protect trade and stabilize the monetary system.