Originally published in 2002, this is the first of three volumes in a history of finance in America. This volume covers the period from the 'discovery' of America to the end of the nineteenth century. It describes the status of finance in Europe at the time of Christopher Columbus' voyage to America. It then traces its transfer and development in America through the Revolution, into the Civil War and beyond to the speculative excesses occurring after that event.

Spanning the era from the end of Reconstruction (1877) to 1920, the entries of this reference were chosen with attention to the people, events, inventions, political developments, organizations, and other forces that led to significant changes in the U.S. in that era. Seventeen initial stand-alone essays describe as many themes.

In Mark Twain and the American West, Joseph Coulombe explores how Mark Twain deliberately manipulated contemporary conceptions of the American West to create and then modify a public image that eventually won worldwide fame. He establishes the central role of the western region in the development of a persona that not only helped redefine American manhood and literary celebrity in the late nineteenth century, but also produced some of the most complex and challenging writings in the American canon. Coulombe sheds new light on previously underappreciated components of Twain's distinctly western persona. Gathering evidence from contemporary newspapers, letters, literature, and advice manuals, Coulombe shows how Twain's persona in the early 1860s as a hard-drinking, low-living straight-talker was an implicit response to western conventions of manhood. He then traces the author's movement toward a more sophisticated public image, arguing that Twain characterized language and authorship in the same manner that he described western men: direct, bold, physical, even violent. In this way, Twain capitalized upon common images of the West to create himself as a new sort of western outlaw--one who wrote. Coulombe outlines Twain's struggle to find the proper balance between changing cultural attitudes toward male respectability and rebellion and his own shifting perceptions of the East and the West. Focusing on the tension between these goals, Coulombe explores Twain's emergence as the moneyed and masculine man-of-letters, his treatment of American Indians in its relation to his depiction of Jim in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the enigmatic connection of Huck Finn to the natural world, and Twain's profound influence on Willa Cather's western novels. Mark Twain and the American West is sure to generate new interest and discussion about Mark Twain and his influence. By understanding how conventions of the region, conceptions of money and class, and constructions of manhood intersect with the creation of Twain's persona, Coulombe helps us better appreciate the writer's lasting effect on American thought and literature through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

This reference guide documents white-collar crimes by individuals and businesses over the past 150 years, offering the most comprehensive array of documents and interpretations available. From Gilded Age railroad scandals to the muckraking period and from the Savings and Loan debacle to corporate fallout during the recent economic meltdown, some individuals and companies have chosen to take the low road to achieve "the American dream." While these offenders throughout modern history may have lacked ethics, morals, or good judgment, they certainly were not wanting in terms of creativity. White-Collar and Corporate Crime: A Documentary and Reference Guide traces the fascinating history of white-collar and corporate criminal behavior from the 1800s through the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform measure. Author Gilbert Geis scrutinizes more than a century of episodes involving corporate corruption and other self-serving behaviors that violate antitrust laws, bribery statutes, and fraud laws. The various attempts made by authorities to rein in greed and the methods employed by wrongdoers to evade these controls are also discussed and evaluated.

The Progressives offers comprehensive coverage of the origins, evolution, and notable events that came to define the pivotal period of American history known as the Progressive Era. Offers a rich, in-depth analysis of who the progressives were and the process through which they identified and attacked social, economic, and political injustices Features an up-to-date synthesis of the literature of the field including comprehensive treatment of the role of women in the Progressive Movement Considers the movement's enduring impact – and how its vision for a better society became transfixed in the American social consciousness and helped to create the modern welfare state Part of the well-respected American History series Integrates themes of class, race, ethnicity, and gender throughout, offering a concise and engaging account of a fascinating era in U.S. history that forever changed the relationship between a democratic government and its citizens

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area in prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.

Why wasn’t there a successful bourgeois revolution in Russia? Was it because Russian capitalists were too servile in their relationship with the Tsarist autocracy? Or was it because Russian states (Tsarist, republican and Soviet) were just too strong? This book is a political history of the Russian capitalist class from 1850 to 1917 that seeks to answer these questions. The book covers the consistent opposition of the Russian bourgeoisie to the Tsarist autocracy up to and including the revolution of 1905. It then considers its alliance, from 1909, with ‘new state’ elements – officials, politicians, army officers and technical experts who were convinced of the possibility of reform and renovation through a radically reorganised state, cleansed of its autocratic detritus. Such a reorganisation was expected as a result of the Great War. While these ideas came to a temporary fruition in the February Revolution of 1917, they also laid the basis for a much more demanding Soviet state in October – and the destruction of the bourgeoisie itself. The book ends with a consideration of the wider implications for the concept of the bourgeois revolution-implications that stretch well beyond Russia-that are revealed by the rise and fall of the Russian bourgeoisie.

This major new contribution to the study of consumption examines how dominant groups express and display their sense of superiority through material and aesthetic attributes, demonstrating that differences from one society to another, and across historical periods, challenge current understandings of elite distinction.

This study focuses on how Chinese business organization, practice, and success have been interpreted in the historical literature. By introducing various interpretations of China's economic development (including the impact of the West, modernization, and Marxist, Weberian, and revisionist approaches), as well as Western business history theory, the book establishes a basis for constructing an appropriate framework for future research.