History 125

Business History in the West, 1500-2020

Monday and Wednesday, 17:30-18:50pm
Peters Building P110A/110B

Dr. Smith, dasmith@wlu.ca
Office Hours: Wednesday 12:30-1:30pm or by appointment via Zoom (link)

Edgar Degas, "A Cotton Office in New Orleans" (1873)

This course surveys business history in Western Europe and America from 1500 to the
present day. Business history traces the development of the major systems of the modern
Western economy and presents models of entrepreneurial success and failure. In this course
we debate the history of capitalism and economic thought, the relationship of the West and
Asia, the role of the individual in the market, the growth of consumerism, the emergence of
the modern financial and industrial systems, and government regulation. Students are
challenged to understand critically the workings of the global economy as a system and not
only in its particulars. This course also provides historical context to contemporary debates
over business and society, while tracing how commerce and industry have had a
transformational effect on the modern world.

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 Course Information & Policies


Course Themes

The course explores three major issues:

• the shaping of the world economic system

• the interaction of business, society and cultural values

• entrepreneurship, consumerism and the individual

Course Goals

At the conclusion of this course students will:

• have a better understanding of the historical development of modern business

• improve their research skills and be able to analyze historical case studies critically

• evaluate disruptive change and its underlying causes

Course Structure

The course meets twice each week each Monday and Wednesday. Attendance is required.

Requirements

• Mid-term (20%)
Due: February 15

• Workbook and citation exercises (20% or 5% each)

Citation exercise due: 1/27
Workbook exercise due (pick 3 or do 4 and drop the lowest):
1/30; 3/6; 3/15 or 3/27; these are due by 3pm.

• Historical Essay, 1,800-2,000 words (25%)

Due: April 10

• Final Exam (35%); date TBD

• Students may also receive up to a 3% bonus by participating actively in course

meetings

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 Reading List

All journal articles are available through ARES at ARES Reading Reserves

The following book is required for the course and to complete assignments. It is available at
the Laurier Bookstore:

Joyce Appleby, The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism (Norton, 2011)

▪ This title is available in digital format and is part of the digital textbook
access program run by the Laurier Bookstore. You will receive an email
from the program at your @mylaurier account with instructions on or
about January 3, or soon after you register in the course.

Course Policies

Please be aware of and abide by University regulations and policies, as outlined in the
current Undergraduate and Graduate Calendar.

The course schedule, evaluation scheme, methodology, assessments, lab and tutorial
attendance, testing and final exam policies have been planned based on current public
health guidelines. Should these guidelines change, any adjustments will be communicated
to students.

Students with disabilities or special needs are advised to contact Laurier's Accessible
Learning Office for information regarding its services and resources. Students are
encouraged to review the Calendar for information regarding all services available on
campus.

Students must reserve the examination period as stated in the Undergraduate Calendar
under Academic Dates. If you are considering registering for a special examination or event,
you should select a time outside the examination period. Consult with the Undergraduate
Calendar for special circumstances for examination deferral.

Take care to cite correctly as the plagiarism is a serious infraction of the Student Code of
Conduct and Discipline. Procedures for investigating and determining appropriate
disciplinary measures for breaches of the Code are given in the current Undergraduate and
Graduate Calendar. Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism.
Students are required to submit their written work in electronic form through turnitin.com.
No paper submitted in this course without citations can receive higher than an F.

Students are to adhere to the Principles in the Use of Information Technology. These
Principles and resulting actions for breaches are stated in the current Undergraduate and
Graduate Calendar.

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Students' names may be divulged in the classroom, both orally and in written form, to other
members of the class. Students who are concerned about such disclosures should contact
the course instructor to identify whether there are any possible alternatives to such
disclosures. Additional information on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
Act at Laurier is available at the Privacy Coordinator Office.

Submission of Assignments

All assignments must be completed and submitted in order to pass this course except
quizzes. Students must submit their assignments through the course drop box at
mylearningspace. The assignment will be analyzed by turnitin.com. You should not hand in a
hard copy. Do not submit your assignment in my faculty mailbox.

Your assignments must contain complete citation in the form of footnotes or bibliography
and in-text citation. Citation includes relevant page numbers. No passing grade can be given
to any essay, case study or similar assignment that fails to provide such a citation apparatus.

If you need information on appropriate citation, see the History Department’s guide to
citation: History Department Style Guide

Late papers that are accepted may incur a penalty of 3% of your grade each day that they are
overdue. No assignment will be accepted if it is late beyond 10 days. Exceptions will be made
for documented medical or serious personal reasons. If you are concerned that you will not
have your paper in before the due date, please contact me to discuss.

Grading

The following grading rubric is used to assess papers:

The A paper is excellent. The A paper is characterized by its originality, effective use of
evidence and superior composition. The reader is not distracted by serious grammatical or
spelling issues, and is instead able to focus on the new ideas and insights of the paper. The A
paper is also impressive because it relies on primary sources for its evidence, rather than
repeating the results, conclusions or evidence of secondary sources. It situates its argument
in the secondary source literature by demonstrating how its findings relate to the work of
other historians. The analysis of the paper also moves beyond a narrow topic, problem or
question and links its results to larger themes and problems in history. It is accurately and
fully documented with footnotes and a bibliography.

The B paper is very good. B papers have many similarities with the qualities of A papers, but
lack the same degree of originality or analysis. They are thoughtful and at times original, but
mostly summarize or repeat research from the secondary literature. The use of primary
sources is limited and these sources are used less critically (i.e. without judgment about their

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value and/or significance) than in an A paper. A B paper is largely free from grammatical and
spelling errors, but does contain some that distract the reader.

The C paper is a satisfactory essay. While a good argument or thesis is present, a C paper
mostly relies on material from the secondary literature. This argument is often difficult to
discern and there may in fact be multiple theses running through the paper or the main
theses does not appear until the end. While the paper argues with some energy and care,
nonetheless its arguments and conclusions are in need of revision, having issues related to
their logic, organization, citation of evidence or conceptual basis. The C paper is interesting
to read, but has the potential to be significantly improved upon. A paper without complete
citation, including relevant page numbers, will receive a C or D grade.

D papers represents near unsatisfactory work. This paper commonly does not have a central
argument and is often an uncritically assembled amalgam of information from secondary
sources, lectures and the course readings. While D papers have sections of argument and
effective writing, these are undermined by an overall lack of organizational coherence. Poor
spelling and grammar make these papers difficult to read.

The F paper does not reach the standard of course credit due to weaknesses in its writing
and analysis, or because it does not fulfill the requirements of the assignment. There is no
central argument or the argument is neither conceptually nor historically sound. Sometimes
papers that would otherwise be D papers receive Fs because poor spelling, grammar or
organization so seriously weakens them. No paper or similar assignment that lacks citation
can receive higher than an F.

Intellectual Property

The educational materials developed for this course, including, but not limited to, lecture
notes and slides, handout materials, examinations and assignments, and any materials
posted to MyLearningSpace, are the intellectual property of the course instructor. These
materials have been developed for student use only and they are not intended for wider
dissemination and/or communication outside of a given course. Posting or providing
unauthorized audio, video, or textual material of lecture content to third-party websites
violates an instructor’s intellectual property rights, and the Canadian Copyright Act.
Recording lectures in any way is prohibited in this course unless specific permission has been
granted by the instructor. Failure to follow these instructions may be in contravention of the
university’s Student Non-Academic Code of Conduct and/or Code of Academic Conduct and
will result in appropriate penalties. Participation in this course constitutes an agreement by
all parties to abide by the relevant University Policies, and to respect the intellectual
property of others during and after their association with Wilfrid Laurier University.

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 Course Schedule


Week Dates Meeting Topics Readings

Why Business Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 1-55

1 1/9
History?
Topic: Convergence and the First Global System

Connecting Global Dennis Flyn and Arturo Giráldez, “Born with a ‘silver spoon’:
1/11
Networks The origin of world trade in 1571,” Journal of World History
(1995), 201-221

Business in Early Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 55-120

2 1/16
Modern Europe
Topic: Early Modern Business Innovation

The First Knowledge Joel Mokyr, “Bottom-up or top-down? The origins of the
1/18
Economy Industrial Revolution,” Journal of Institutional Economics, 14:6
(2018), 1003-1024

3 1/23 The Great Divergence Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 121-144

1/25 Skills Workshop Topic: Divergence and the “Rise of the West”

1/27 Citation Assignment Due

The Industrial
Revolution: Causes
Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 145-162
and People
4 1/30
Topic: Josiah Wedgwood and Sustained Business Innovation
Workbook
Assignment Due by
Mark Dodgson, “Exploring new combinations in innovation
3pm
and entrepreneurship: social networks, Schumpeter, and the
case of Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795),” Industrial and
The Industrial
Corporate Change, 20:4 (2011), 1119-1151
2/1 Revolution: Global
Effects

Global Markets and

5 2/6 Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 200-227,
the Liberal Order
247-264
The Emergence of Big
Topic: Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand
Business and
2/8
Corporate
Adam Smith, “On Free Trade” [course website]
Organization

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 Socialism and Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 228-242
6 2/13 Critiques of
Capitalism Topic: Karl Marx and Alternatives to Capitalism

Karl Marx, “The Communist Manifesto” [course website]

2/15 Mid-term Test

The Second Industrial

Topic: the Challenge of Mass Production and Demand
7 2/27 Revolution and the
Current Wars
Thomas Powers, “Alfred P. Sloan’s 1921 Repositioning
Strategy,” Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 426-
Mass Production and
3/1 442
Consumer Demand

Branding

8 3/6 Workbook Topic: Standardization and National Markets for Food

Assignment Due by
3pm Ai Hisano, “The Rise of Synthetic Colors in the American Food
Industry, 1870–1940,” Business History Review, 90:3 (2016),
Mass Consumption 483-504
3/8 and Modern
Happiness

The Great Depression

9 3/13 and the Problem of Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 265-330
Demand
Topic: Business, Communities, and Race in the Post-War
The Post-War Miracle
Marcia Chatelain, “The Miracle of the Golden Arches: Race
3/15 Workbook and Fast Food in Los Angeles,” Pacific Historical Review, 85:3
Assignment Due by (2016), 325-353
3pm

Silicon Valley and Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 331-350

10 3/20
Innovation Clusters
Topic: Steve Jobs, Apple and Making Technology Accessible

Howard Yu, “Decoding Leadership: How Steve Jobs

The Internet
3/22 Transformed Apple to Spearhead a Technological Informal
Revolution
Economy,” Journal of Business and Management, 19:1 (2013),
33-44

The Neoliberal Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 400-417

Revolution: Inflation
11 3/27
and Monetary Topic: How Being Indebted became Normal
Change

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 Workbook Andrea Ryan et al., “A Brief Postwar History of U.S.
Assignment Due by Consumer Finance,” Business History Review, 85:3 (2011), pp.
3pm 461-498

The 2008 Financial

3/29
Crisis

Social Capitalism and

12 4/3 Background: Appleby, The Relentless Revolution, 365-384
ESG: the Long History
Topic: The Future of Business
A Third/Fourth
4/5 Industrial Revolution Milton Friedman, “The Social Responsibility of Business”
and Monopoly [course website]

Additional Resources

Foot Patrol Walk Home Service: 1.519.886.FOOT x3668. Foot Patrol is a volunteer operated
walk-home service, available daily during evening hours. Male-female, radio-dispatched
teams trained in Emergency First Aid are available on request to escort students to and from
campus as well as to off-campus destinations, either by foot or by van.

Waterloo Student Wellness Centre: 519-884-0710, x3146. The Centre supports the physical,
emotional, and mental health needs of students. Located on the 2 nd floor of the Student
Services Building, booked and same-day appointments are available Mondays and
Wednesdays from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8:30 am to
4:15 pm. Contact the Centre at x3146, wellness@wlu.ca or @LaurierWellness. After hours
crisis support available 24/7. Call 1-844-437-3247 (HERE247).

The Students Rights Advisory Committee: This committee exists to provide you with
information about your rights when it comes to landlord-tenant issues or academic appeals.
While in no way legal representation, it can help to inform you about your options in order
to make difficult situations easier to navigate. studentrights@mylaurier.ca

The Food Bank: The Food Bank provides food deliveries on a 24/7 basis confidentially
supporting the dietary and nutritional needs of Laurier students. All dietary restrictions can
be accommodated, and food packages typically last up to a week or more. All students are
eligible to use this service, regardless of circumstance or financial situation. Request a
package thorough their website above. Food bank also carries out various initiatives
throughout and during the year such as the weekly on-campus Farmers’ Market and monthly
Pancake Tuesdays.

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