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Previous studies of the U.S. Constitutional Convention have relied on votes recorded for the state blocs or a relatively small number of delegate votes. We construct a new data set covering delegate votes on over 600 substantive roll calls, and use the data in several ways. First, we estimate a single dimensional position for the delegates which reflects their overall voting patterns. Next, we explain these positions using a variety of delegate and constituent variables. Finally, we suggest a method for identifying state and floor medians, which can be used to predict equilibrium outcomes at the Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most American financial crises of the postbellum gold standard era were caused by fluctuations in the cotton harvest due to exogenous factors such as weather. The transmission channel ran through export revenues and financial markets under the pre-1914 monetary regime. A poor cotton harvest depressed export revenues and reduced international demand for American assets, which depressed American stock prices, drained deposits from money center banks and precipitated a business cycle downturn—conditions that bred financial crises. The crises caused by cotton harvests could have been prevented by an American central bank, even under gold standard constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We explore the effects of human capital on workers during the latter nineteenth century by examining the U.S. Navy. Naval officers belonged either to a regular or an engineer corps and had tasks assigned for their specialized training. We compile education and career data for officers from Naval Academy and navy registers for the years 1858 to 1907. Wage premia for “engineer-skilled” officers deteriorated over their careers; more traditionally skilled officers enjoyed higher gains in earnings and more frequent promotions. This compelled those with engineering skills to leave the service early, hindering the navy's capacity to further technologically develop. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Explores the 1837 U.S. financial crisis. Hypothetical attempts of disentanglement of the causes of the crisis from domestic and international influences; Reconsideration of the role of domestic influence with an analysis of government documents and newspapers; Causes of the depletion of New York City bank specie reserves.

Provides information on the factors which caused income inequality in the United States (U.S.) from the Civil War up to the Great Depression in the 1920s. Historical background on the different business-cycle peak of the U.S.; Comparison between the population and the disposable income of a household; Income share estimates based on the reported tax-returns; Capital gains during the stock market growth in 1920.

Provides information on different economic factors that led to the 1792 securities market crash in the First Bank of the United States (U.S.). Details on the economic history of the U.S.; Implication of the credit markets on financial institutions; Effect of low liquidity and speculations in the purchasing of bank notes and securities; Discussion on the banking system of the U.S.

Presents a historical background of private weather organizations and the founding of the United States Weather Bureau. Challenges to the efficient provision of private weather-information services; Explanation for the public provision of weather forecasts; Economic benefits of the provision of weather information.

Presents a historical analysis of state personal income per capita in the United States from 1880 to 1980. Differences in regional price levels; Alternative measures of regional economic performance; Implications.

Studies how labor markets have functioned during some periods of extraordinary economic change in the American and Indian economic history. Questions regarding the history of African-American migration and employment; Role played by the government antidiscrimination policy in opening wage employment opportunities to black workers during World War II; Investigation of the labor market impact of rapid advances in transportation.

Probes on the cause of the inflation in the United States economy in the years between 1933 and 1941. Efforts to explain the cause of the inflation; Factors that have caused the inflation; Discussion on the economic growth of the economy in the period.

Discusses the letters written by W.D. Howells in reaction to the crisis of overproduction experienced by the United States economy towards the end of the 19th century. Explanation on overproduction according to the laws of classical economics; Basis of classical economics; Comments from Uriel Croker regarding the problem in the April 1887 edition of `The Quarterly Journal of Economics.'

Examines where consensus does and does not exist among American economic historians based on the results of a questionnaire mailed to selected Economic History Association members. Issues on which economic historians agreed and disagreed; Areas of disagreement between historians and economists.

Focuses on the private wealth of the inhabitants of three regions and of the Thirteen American Colonies as a whole in 1774. Comparison on the levels of wealth on a per capita basis; Complexities of intertemporal and interspatial wealth comparisons.

Examines the evidence in support of the proposition that land abundance in the United States (U.S.) contributed to higher interest/profit rates in the 19th century U.S. economy. Relationship between land abundance, input prices, and technology and organization in Great Britain and in the U.S.

Examines the economic benefits of the neutral stance of the United States (U.S.) during the Napoleonic War. Significance of the U.S. neutrality on its economic development process; Importance of the export sector on the total economy; Expansion of domestic trade; Discussion on the need to balance the economic benefits of the U.S. neutrality against the costs of wartime commerce.

Analyzes time of entry into an economy as a determinant of wealth in Utah from 1850 to 1870. Significance of the growth of settlements and the arrival of immigrants in characterizing the United States economy; Background on the economics of David Ricardo.

Reviews literature on economic growth in the United States before 1840 and compares it with estimates derived from the Philadelphia region. National output per capita; Factors that contributed to relatively modest economic growth.

Explores the state of economic knowledge regarding the development of household economic life in the United States from 1800-1930. Explanations for the low labor-force participation of middle-class married women; Factors that could help in estimating the contribution of household work to social product.

Examines the differences in regional prices and wages in the United States in 1890. Relationship between the cost of living and city size; Determinants of regional industrial growth.

Examines the role of legal and institutional factors in the economic development of the United States from the 1940s to the 1950s. Character of the country's legal system; Impact of regulatory law.

Comments on articles about economic and business history in the United States. Details of private banking; Views on capital accumulation.

Examines the role of the Second Bank of the United States in establishing and maintaining a uniform national currency in the 1820s. Status of the Second Bank during the early 19th century; Influence on the American economy.

Features a study on the factors which caused the economic retardation of the United States during the late 19th century. Application of the neoclassical analysis; Details of consumer prices; Discussion on interest rates; Occurrence of economic depression in the country.

Analyzes the impact of immigration into the United States from 1840 through 1920, on the economic growth of the country. Differences between the native and foreign born population; Attainment of relative wages for the nativity groups.

Discusses the economic growth in the United States before 1840. Growth of real product; Growth of aggregate product per capita in the period between 1815 and 1860.

Comments on an article about the economic impact of nineteenth-century transportation in the United States. Factors that affected actual transfer charges; Flaw of an analysis on canal technology; Costs of railroad construction.

Focuses on a study about the economic growth of clock manufacturing industry in the United States (U.S.). Brief information on the U.S. economy; Details of mass production and marketing; Division of labor and production process.

Examines the historical macroeconomic data of the United States before World War I. Arguments raised on business cycle in the pre-Depression era; Gross national product of the prewar economy; Information on the fluctuations of business cycles.

Addresses a commentary on the role of economic instability in the United States agriculture in the agrarian discontent during the late 19th century. Review of the methodology used; Response to a suggestion on the differences in the relative variability between states; Points of agreement; Criticism against the argument on railroad network as primary determinant of relative variability.

Comments on articles about the economic history of southern United States. Details on the transition from plantation slavery; Questions about the form of the squad system; Discussion on the spread of the wage-cash system.

Presents a series of brief reports on research about the history of colonial economics in the United States (U.S.). Details of occupational mobility; Discussion on wealth distribution; Probate coverage of the U.S. colonies; Rate of international trading.

Discusses studies concerning United States economic history during the early twentieth century. Insight on the lower income groups in the 1920s; Relationship between per capita income and state shares of the top one and five percent of the population.

Discusses studies made on economics in the United States during the colonial period. Nature of economic behavior in the pre-industrial Anglo-American world; Standard of living in eighteenth century farmers; Patterns of consumption in elite and simpler households in Chesapeake, Virginia at about 1720.

Comments on several articles about the economic history of the United States. How the relationship of capital to deposits is best treated; Issue over the use of a consumer price index; How wealth could grow without affecting income.

Presents the summary of a workshop on economic history which focused on American demography. Factor attributed to the variations in the size of households during the 17th century colonial America; Discussion on the need to distinguish between the normal mortality and the abnormal seasoning experience of migrants.