A Hercules in the cradle
Subtitle: war, money, and the American state, 1783-1867
By: Max M. Edling
Series: American beginnings, 1500-1900; American beginnings, 1500-1900
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 318
ISBN-13: 9780226181578
Subjects: Fiscal policy; Military History; Public Finance; Economic aspects; War; History
Description: "In A Hercules in the Cradle, Max M. Edling argues that the federal government's abilities to tax and to borrow money, developed in the early years of the republic, were critical to the young nation's ability to wage war and expand its territory. He traces the growth of this capacity from the time of the founding to the aftermath of the Civil War, including the funding of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Edling maintains that the Founding Fathers clearly understood the connection between public finance and power: a well-managed public debt was a key part of every modern state. Creating a debt would always be a delicate and contentious matter in the American context, however, and statesmen of all persuasions tried to pay down the national debt in times of peace. A Hercules in the Cradle explores the origin and evolution of American public finance and shows how the nation's rise to great-power status in the nineteenth century rested on its ability to go into debt."--Publisher's Web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: war, money, and American history; title: A more effectual mode of administration: the constitution and the origins of American public finance; title: The soul of government: creating an American fiscal regime; title: So immense a power in the affairs of war: the restoration of public credit; title: Equal to the severest trials: Mr. Madison's war; title: The two most powerful republics in the world: Mr. Polk's war; title: A rank among the very first of military powers: Mr. Lincoln's war; title: Conclusion: the ideology, structure, and significance of the first American fiscal regime.