This History U course examines the trajectory of capitalism from its emergence in British North America to the erosion of US global competitiveness in the 1970s and the rise of neoliberalism and financialization since the 1980s.
Course Instructor: Professor David Sicilia, University of Maryland
Eligibility: High school students
Image Source: Bernhard Gillam, "The Protectors of Our Industries," Puck, February 7, 1883 (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Divison, 94507245)
History U
Free for high school students
This History U course examines the trajectory of capitalism from its emergence in British North America to the erosion of US global competitiveness in the 1970s and the rise of neoliberalism and financialization since the 1980s. We will focus on the role of slavery, the state, and corporations in nineteenth-century capitalist expansion; the rise of big business and its impact on US politics, society, and industrial work; the Second Industrial Revolution; causes of the Great Depression; how the New Deal and World War II created a mixed economy; and the predominance of consumerism in postwar America.
The views expressed in this course are those of Dr. David Sicilia.
Daniel Jocz explains what you will learn in this course.
David Sicilia, Henry Kaufman Chair of Financial History, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
David Sicilia is an associate professor of history and the Henry Kaufman Chair of Financial History at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park. His research expertise includes economic, technological, and exchange history. Sicilia has published several books on these topics, ranging from in-depth investigations of specific entrepreneurs or businesses to explorations of wider global trends. Some of his works include The Entrepreneurs: An American Adventure, co-authored with Robert Sobel; Labors of a Modern Hercules: The Evolution of a Chemical Company, co-authored with Davis Dyer; and Constructing Corporate America: History, Politics, Culture, co-edited with Kenneth Lipartito.
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