History Summaries

Using its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to outlaw segregation in public accommodations involved in interstate commerce, to declare discrimination in employment illegal, and to establish the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On June 19, 1963, in response to sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and demonstrations by […]

Although Congress had declined to provide economic assistance to other companies in the past, the consequences of those decisions convinced the legislature that aiding Chrysler was necessary. Taxpayers and advocacy groups, however, warned that the bailout would set a bad precedent for American businesses. After losing more than $200 million in 1978 and nearly the […]

Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the United States and accounts for a large percentage of retailers’ annual sales. As retailers have focused their efforts on capitalizing on the holiday season, some conservative Christian organizations have voiced objections that Christmas is losing its spiritual meaning and becoming secularized. The Christmas season has become inextricably […]

Trade between communist China and the United States went from nearly nonexistent to hundreds of billions of dollars of imports in the twenty-first century, making China a major U.S. trading partner and a key supplier of many goods. Largely closed to foreign business interests until the nineteenth century, China limited most of its trade with […]

Child product safety laws, by requiring warning labels and prohibiting harmful components or design elements, protect young people from potentially dangerous toys and other products, while adding expenses to manufacturers creating and marketing those products. Two important laws affecting child product safety are the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 […]

Children were a cheap, submissive source of labor for textile, mining, glass, and other industries in the United States until the early twentieth century, when social reform began to produce legislation that protected children from unfair or unsafe working conditions and from other forms of exploitation by employers. Child Employment;childrenlabor, in one or another form, […]

Chemicals have played an important role in the development and modern prosperity of the United States and of various businesses. Manufacturers of such bulk chemicals as sulfuric acid and fertilizers, as well as such light chemicals as pharmaceuticals and synthetic fibers, helped transform chemical industries from the small, unoriginal, and inefficient enterprises of the eighteenth […]

Chávez advanced the standing of minority workers and strengthened labor institutions in the United States. He founded several significant labor organizations, and at the time of his death, he was the president of the AFL-CIO. The family of César Chávez ran a small farm and a local store in Yuma, Arizona, but with the onset […]

The United States has long been a world leader in the production and exportation of cereal crops, especially corn. The ability of corn to withstand variations in climate and soils, combined with advances in hybridization, almost ensure the continued superiority of U.S. cereal production. Production of corn has risen from an average of 27 bushels […]

The advent of catalog shopping created a new source of revenue and a new business model for marketers and manufacturers, who emphasized to consumers the increased convenience and selection available when ordering products by mail. Catalog outlets contributed to the growth and diversity of American retail businesses. Benjamin Franklin, BenjaminFranklin is credited with starting the […]

Carver conducted scientific research on such crops as peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and pecans. Products derived from this research reached the market during the early twentieth century, revitalizing the economy and business activity of the South by liberating the region from an excessive dependence on cotton. While participating in farmwork during his youth in Missouri, […]

Andrew Carnegie began the steel industry in Pittsburgh and innovated in both the organization of steel companies and the uses of steel in engineering and manufacturing. He became one of the wealthiest men in history and pioneered the idea that American business could be philanthropic. Andrew Carnegie immigrated to the United States with his humble […]

Canals opened the American frontier, creating new markets for eastern factories and providing access to the raw materials in the Midwest. They enabled businesses to become more efficient; however, several states suffered bankruptcies during the 1830’s because of investments in canals. Small canals were first created in the United States during the late eighteenth century. […]

Canada is the most important trading partner of the United States and the major export market for thirty-five U.S. states. It is the United States’ largest market for food and also is a major market for manufactured goods. The United States imports more agricultural products from Canada than from any other nation and depends on […]

The gold rush era led to the creation of the institutions that still govern American mining, sparked the development of the American West, brought rapid population growth to Sacramento and San Francisco, and created demand for transcontinental railroads and telegraphs and for international shipping between California and all parts of the world. On January 24, […]

The original all-news station, CNN proved the commercial viability of broadcasting to a niche market. The Cable News Network (CNN) was the brainchild of Atlanta, Georgia, media mogul Ted Turner, TedTurner. Turner had already created one of the first cable Television;cable networkstelevision superstations, transmitting the signal of local independent television station WTCG to a communications […]

The establishment of business schools changed the way many businesspeople were educated. Instead of entering apprenticeships, people attended schools where they followed a course of study designed to teach them business. Before the mid-nineteenth century, an apprenticeship was required to learn to be a businessperson. The apprentice would begin as an office boy and work […]

Business cycles have been an important part of American business history. For example, severe depressions occurred in 1818-1819, 1837-1843, 1873-1879, and 1929-1933, causing major declines in the standard of living of the average worker. Since the end of World War II, the strength of expansions has greatly exceeded contractions, resulting in significant business prosperity. The […]

White-collar crimes such as embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, false advertising, and unfair labor practices have occurred with regularity throughout the history of businesses and corporations. Whether committed at the individual or corporate level, these crimes can destroy companies and the lives of employees and investors as well as hurt customers and everyday Americans. Although business […]

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act was designed to give tax breaks to business owners and the upper class in an effort to stimulate the market. Although some experts argue that the act initially helped the economy, many note that it had negative effects by reducing government revenues. The Economic Growth and Tax […]

Buffett turned a talent for business and a head for numbers into a very successful investment career. His investment strategies and business plans have been both copied and criticized. Warren Buffett bought his first stock at the age of eleven, later selling it for a profit of $5 per share. He enrolled in Columbia University […]

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the first national union of any profession to be organized by African Americans. For over five decades, the brotherhood worked to oppose racism and class prejudice in hiring practices, both within and outside the transportation industry, and many of its members became leaders of the 1960’s Civil Rights […]

Bridges are important to commerce in that they permit travel by roadway over otherwise impassable bodies of water, thus making trading easier and faster. Some of the earliest American corporations formed to create bridges. Since ancient times, human societies have built bridges across waterways, particularly narrow bodies of water such as streams. As local economies […]

The International Monetary Fund maintains a system of fixed exchange rates centered on gold and the U.S. dollar, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development provides economic assistance to developing countries. By creating them both, the Bretton Woods Agreement began a new era of international finance and monetary policy. The Bretton Woods Agreement is […]

Instituted during World War II, the bracero program brought a much-needed influx of Mexican laborers to the fields of the American West, making California the breadbasket of the United States and of much of the world. The program brought such economic rewards that it was extended until 1964. By 1942, the United States was fully […]

Consumer boycotts are used by various political and social-awareness groups and individual consumers in an effort to effect change or simply to punish a company for a perceived injustice. The length and severity of the boycott can affect the health of the boycotted firms or industries and therefore the jobs of the people employed by […]

This dramatic act of rebellion became an important symbol of American dissatisfaction with Great Britain’s colonial economic policies, particularly the imposition of taxes without granting colonists representation in Parliament, and helped lead to the American Revolution. Before 1767, most residents of the British American colonies drank smuggled Dutch tea rather than pay the high Colonies;taxationGreat […]

Book publishing has been a significant presence in America since colonial times, with almanacs, primers, and law books originally forming the foundation of the industry. Since 1640, when the first printed book was published in America, the book publishing industry grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Publishing came to America in 1639, when the Day (also […]

The bond industry enables governments to fund major infrastructure improvements and corporations to finance various stages of development. Bonds are financial instruments by which buyers lend money to sellers under the terms outlined for each particular bond. They are thus debt instruments and are issued for a certain value (par value), for a set period […]

Bloomberg’s offered its clients up-to-the-minute and breaking news about financial markets, allowing them to respond immediately to events that could influence the value of investments. It was an early player in a trend toward using computer and communications technology that changed the nature of securities trading. From its beginnings in 1981 (when it was known […]

The Black Monday crash, one of the worst in U.S. history, had an enormous impact on American and world business. Following numerous studies of the crash, reforms were implemented to forestall such an event happening again. On October 19, 1987, Black Monday, Stock market crash of 1987Wall Street witnessed the loss of nearly $1 trillion […]

The gold rush led to the development of the Homestake mine, which operated for 125 years and produced 10 percent of the world’s supply of gold. In the summer of 1874, the U.S. Army directed Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, George ArmstrongCuster to lead an expedition to explore the Black Hills in what was then […]

The financiers’ attempt to control the gold market failed when the U.S. government released $4 million in gold on Friday, September 24, 1869, known as Black Friday. The resulting panic severely disrupted the U.S. national economy. In 1869, the first year of Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency, speculators attempted to make a fortune by cornering the […]

One of the most productive research and development concerns in the United States during the twentieth century, Bell Telephone Laboratories, commonly known as Bell Labs, produced numerous inventions that shaped communication, commerce, and everyday life during the twentieth century. The venture that became known as Bell Labs grew out of Western Electric, the manufacturing division […]

Bell, a prolific inventor and philanthropist, is best known as the inventor of the telephone. He founded Bell Telephone, which would eventually become the communications giant American Telephone and Telegraph. Alexander Graham Bell was a distinguished Boston University professor and instructor of the deaf with a long history of interest in acoustics when he began […]

From its beginnings during the early stages of colonial settlement, the raising of cattle has grown steadily in the United States. Following its greatest period of expansion–the era known as the Cattle Kingdom on the Great Plains in the second half of the nineteenth century–the beef industry has continued to be a major American food […]

The 1972 baseball strike was the first organized player strike against Major League Baseball’s team owners. The event provided the precedent for future players’ strikes. Confrontations between players and management have occurred throughout the history of baseball. Strikes;baseball playersPlayers were always at a disadvantage because of the reserve clause. The reserve clause of players’ contracts […]

Barron’s provides advice and information to individuals seeking to manage their own money effectively. This advice empowers individuals and, as a result of Barron’s large readership, it can itself influence financial markets. The entirety of U.S. and world markets is a complex topic but one of great importance to private investors. Barron’s is a weekly […]

Uniform bankruptcy laws are pivotal in a rapidly growing, credit-based economy. Their purpose is to grant equitable treatment to creditors and give debtors fresh starts. Without them, lenders have no assurance that their claims will receive just treatment in the event of borrower default. Borrowers, conversely, are reluctant to commit to a risky enterprise if […]

The establishment and subsequent expansion of banking services in America contributed to the westward development of the country. It also led to the creation of major businesses. Availability of credit and savings products for individual consumers also gave rise to increased consumption of goods and services provided by American businesses. Banks provide three services. They […]

The financial stability of the United States and its currency was compromised by the expiration of the charter of the First Bank of the United States in 1811 and by the expenses incurred by the War of 1812. The Second Bank of the United States was chartered to promote a common U.S. currency, repay loans, […]

The First Bank of the United States helped stabilize the finances of, pay the debts of, and establish international credit for the fledgling nation’s federal government. The debate over its existence shaped the course of constitutional law and led to the founding of the United States’ first two political parties. Independence from Great Britain brought […]

Before the 1940’s, bank failures were a major contributor to business depressions, depriving depositors of their money and reducing the availability of loans. Since then, insurance provided by the FDIC has helped minimize the effects of failures on the overall U.S. economy. The U.S. banking system has long been characterized by a large number of […]

Since the early twentieth century, thousands of businesses, large and small, have participated in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles, providing employment for millions of Americans and requiring huge capital investments. Gasoline-powered vehicles were invented primarily by Europeans during the late nineteenth century, but they were improved and made into the center of […]

Factory automation has allowed companies to leverage their workers’ labor to increase productivity many thousandfold and to produce goods that could not be produced by traditional craft methods. The automation of factories began with the application of mechanical power to replace human and animal muscular effort, particularly in heavy industry. Such devices as windmills and […]

Astor’s commercial success anticipated the rags-to-riches stories popularized by nineteenth century novelists. His first American job was selling baked goods in the streets. By 1820, he was considered the wealthiest man in America. One of eleven children of a butcher, Johann Jakob Astor was educated until age fourteen. He later joined an older brother in […]

U.S. trade with Asia grew rapidly in volume, significance, and complexity in the last quarter of the twentieth century, affecting what the United States produced and what it imported. U.S. companies have been major players in exploration, production, and trade of Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian oil. Free trade with foreign nations was one of […]

The Asian financial crisis demonstrated the risks of speculating in foreign currencies. As a result of the crisis, American businesses and private citizens became hesitant to invest in developing countries. Growth in such countries slowed, and U.S. investors were forced to reevaluate their options and priorities. The Asian financial crisis emerged when traders in foreign […]

The Articles of Confederation created an extremely weak central government, leaving each state in control of its own trade, taxation, and currency. The failure of this system led the states to produce a new constitution that centralized economic and trade powers in the new federal government. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union–a “league of […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has provided vital indirect support to business enterprises through its work supporting the nation’s infrastructure, most notably waterways and harbors, and has been a major employer in the construction industry. Since its establishment by Congress in 1802, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has played an important role […]

Starting with small, government-owned facilities as some of the first industrial facilities in the United States, the arms industry has expanded into large corporate entities. The arms industry has been one of the leading drivers of American technology in pursuit of superior weaponry for the defense of the United States. During the country’s wars, the […]

The immediate effect of the 1973 oil embargo was a decrease in the amount of crude oil and petroleum products available to American businesses. The long-term effects were large increases in the price of oil that motivated the United States and other nations to begin developing large-scale conservation efforts to reduce their dependence on oil, […]

Apple has been one of the driving forces in innovation in the personal computer and consumer electronics industries. Even at times when the company was considered a niche player in personal computing, features that it pioneered often made their way into products marketed by its more successful competitors. In the twenty-first century, with its iPod […]

Antitrust regulation had a dampening effect on the growth of big business by dismantling monopolistic companies, reducing predatory behaviors such as price fixing, and restricting mergers. The federal government’s Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 initiated federal antitrust policy and remained a legislative centerpiece for the following century. The law was a […]

The markets for art and antiques have satisfied both consumers’ quest for elaborate furnishings and decorative objects to add beauty and status to their lives and people’s desire to invest in objects that are likely to appreciate, largely independent of fluctuations in the stock market. Antiques and art are sometimes grouped into the same market […]

The representatives at the Annapolis Convention decided that the Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced and that a constitutional convention should be held to reinvent the federal government. Many of the perceived shortcomings to be remedied involved the extremely limited financial power of the federal government. The Articles of Articles of ConfederationConfederation were written […]

The federal government’s creation of Amtrak allowed private railroad companies to abandon their passenger services, which had become highly unprofitable. Amtrak and the sizable federal subsidies supporting it make it possible to maintain a national rail passenger service that would otherwise be financially unsustainable. After World War II ended in 1945, the automobile and airline […]

Although listing mostly smaller and riskier stocks than the larger American stock exchanges, the AMEX has instituted innovative techniques and technologies, such as hand signals and ticker tape machines, that have gone on to influence the other markets. Originally known as the New York Curb Market, the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) first met outdoors on […]

ASCAP was the first American performance rights organization, tracking the performance of its members’ compositions and collecting licensing fees on their behalf. The organization made it feasible for individual composers to receive the fees they were due by eliminating the need for them to dedicate their own time and resources to administrative overhead. With the […]

The American Bimetallic League sought to pressure the federal government to mint silver dollar coins to be reintroduced into general circulation as legal tender. These free silver advocates wanted the government to set a standard valuation of silver against gold as a 16:1 ratio and allow payments of government debts in silver. In 1893, the […]

Reflecting the importance of automobiles in the United States, the American Automobile Association has promoted good roads and traffic safety, offered its members help in roadside mechanical emergencies, noted fuel prices, published maps, and performed other services to enhance the motoring experience. The American Automobile Association (AAA; pronounced “triple A”) was created at a meeting […]

As the United States became increasingly urbanized and industrialized, alcohol similarly became a mass-produced commodity distributed both in stores and in bars and restaurants. After the enactment and repeal of Prohibition, the federal government created a three-tier distribution system, from suppliers to wholesalers to retailers, to ensure the existence of a layer of distribution between […]

The United States purchased Alaska to boost American fishing and whaling industries, increase the nation’s control of commerce in the Pacific, and create a bridge to Asian markets. The American entrepreneur Perry McDonough Collins, Perry McDonoughCollins had a vision as early as 1857 of expanding U.S. trade into Siberia, Manchuria, and northern China, foreseeing a […]

The pipeline across Alaska was one of the most ambitious and debated construction efforts mounted by private industry in American history. It presented construction problems, such as how to avoid damaging the permafrost, and aroused intense political controversy at both the state and national levels. In 1967, Governor Walter Hickel, WalterHickel, formerly a wealthy real […]

Giant German airships were used on commercial trans-Atlantic flights during the early twentieth century. Although these airships were replaced by airplanes, smaller, nonrigid airships called blimps are still used for special purposes, such as advertising and photography. Airship history began as early as 1785, when the French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard flew across the England Channel […]

Among the many products developed and sold by American industries, aircraft have been one of the most successful and most conspicuous. Throughout most of the world, American aircraft have dominated the field for many years. The beginning of America’s aircraft industry can be traced back to the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, whose successful first […]

One of the leading business sectors in the American economy, the air transportation industry employed nearly half a million people during the early twenty-first century, not including travel agencies, hotels, and car rental companies. In 2004, the average American flew 2.2 times a year. The Wright brothers flew the first powered airplane in 1903, and […]

The air traffic controllers’ strike of 1981 violated federal law and the terms of the controllers’ contract. The president responded to the strike by terminating striking workers, significantly weakening both PATCO and the American organized labor movement generally. By the 1980’s, American unions had become less powerful. In 1981, one of those unions, the Professional […]

The Department of Agriculture was created to boost national agricultural production, but it later acquired responsibility for ensuring the safety of the nation’s food supply as well. Established in 1862, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was created to improve productivity in American farming. The department helped farmers acquire and use technology and fertilizers […]

Farming advances and efficiencies have made the United States one of the world’s largest exporters of agricultural products. However, U.S. agriculture has come under censure internationally because of its farm subsidies and tariffs and domestically because of environmental concerns, its inhumane treatment of animals, and its employment and treatment of immigrant workers. Farming practices were […]

The growth of U.S. agribusiness has corresponded with a decrease in the number of small, family farms in the country. Moreover, American multinational corporations have helped drive an international trend toward the replacement of subsistence farming with commercial farming. First coined in 1955, the term “agribusiness” denoted an increasing consolidation of American agricultural resources that […]

The primary purpose of USAID is to implement long-term overseas economic and development assistance. The agency also provides humanitarian relief following disasters and seeks to support the democratization of other nations. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent federal agency, although the secretary of state broadly oversees its work. USAID is […]

The unions represented by the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) fought for and won American workers’ rights to collective bargaining, employer-sponsored health care plans, the eight-hour workday, workplace safety provisions, pensions and other retirement plans, and the procedures for dealing with grievances arising from workplace issues. The AFL-CIO influences local […]

Affirmative action programs were designed to equalize opportunities for disenfranchised groups. They have been controversial since their inception, from the standpoints of both public policy and constitutional law. Critics and supporters alike would agree, however, that they significantly changed hiring and recruitment practices throughout the country, altering the composition of the workforce within several major […]

The advertising industry persuades people to buy products and services that, without advertising, might go unnoticed by the consumer. Consequently, advertising has been vital in promoting all kinds of businesses and products, often creating a demand for things neither necessary nor of any real value. On the other hand, it has created competition among businesses […]

The accounting industry serves all sectors of the economy, including for-profit enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and local, state, and national governments. It compiles and interprets data to enable informed business decisions and coordinate business relationships. The industry has been crucial to the efficient management of American business, and accounting is sometimes called “the language of business.” […]

A complete table of contents to Historical Encyclopedia of Business. Volume 1, Acc – Goo Accounting industry Advertising industry Affirmative action programs AFL-CIO Agency for International Development, U.S. Agribusiness Agriculture U.S. Department of Agriculture Air traffic controllers’ strike Air transportation industry Aircraft industry Airships Alaska Pipeline Alaska purchase Alcoholic beverage industry American Automobile Association American […]