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Eric Jenkins Jr. Professor Ferrill WRD 104: 211 March 3, 2014 Advocacy Essay The United States has always been pictured as a place of freedom, liberty, and wealth. The worlds most famous and richest people are from America the Beautiful. The history of the United States has played a part in this countrys economy. This country has been through many periods of time that could have possibly affected the current economy today. The United States Economy is calculated by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) (Pendleton). This includes all goods produced by the citizens and companies in the United States (Pendleton). Exploring the similarities in debt, employment, and whether there was an increase or decrease in finances, it is essential to compare the past to the present. Some major events that took place were Revolutions (Industrial, Agricultural, Transportation, and Technological) and Wars (World Wars I and II, Vietnam). I believe that the past Wars and Revolutions plays a major role in the United States economy because of events that took place that caused a great effect on finances. The United States participation in wars has caused great victories. For instance, the Civil War left a huge impact for America because it was one of the first steps towards ending slavery. Before the Civil War, northern states were making their income and leaving their economic impact by manufacturing and small farming areas (history.com). The southern states were making their income largely by farming with slavery being tolerated, causing hard, aggressive, abusive labor for African-Americans (history.com). During this time period, the United States has already set the stage of showing economic excellence. However, some citizens in America

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didnt believe in the way that southern states were making their money, which led to the Civil War. After the war was over, the United States economy was lower than before the war. To fix this issue, the leaders in politics at the time decided to create more money. Printing more money was their escape of possibly being in debt and not having a well-balanced economy. The Cold War was a non-traditional war. I say non-traditional because it lasted for nearly 50 years and the countries never physically invading the other county. It was more so of a political and military argument between the Soviet Union and the United States. However, there were extreme benefits for the United States during this period. Highways and Interstates were created so that troops and military supplies could move quickly (history.com). These highways are being used on daily basis. It creates a positive growth for the U.S. economy because of tolls, gas stations located nearby, and local business that offers food or entertainment. People typically use highways when they are travelling across the country or somewhere far from their location within their state. However, billions of dollars went into this non-existing war due to military and protection purposes (Young, pgs. 16-22). In todays economy, the United States is trillions of dollars in debt. Richard Striner suggests that using the monetary methods of Lincoln, updated to employ the inflation-fighting tools of the Federal Reserve, we could pay for a faster recovery and a great many worthy projects without higher taxes, without more national debt, and believe it or not, without inflation. How? By letting Congress exercise a little-known power that is used (very quietly indeed) by the Federal Reserve: the power to create new money. However, if the government just print money whenever there is a problem, then there wont be a chance for America to be economically stable. In that case, the government should just print more money for the poor, homeless people, and for students struggling to pay their college tuition. Even though this scenario would be a

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lovely reality, it wont create balance. One solution is to adopt a completely planned economic system for military and defense production that removes capitalists from the process altogether (Duncan and Coyne, pg. 235). Revolutions also left an impact on todays economy in the United States. So many revolutions took place that caused America to be the superpower country that it is today. Without the development of the revolutions in the past, this country wont be known as a developed country. Some popular events that took place were the Industrial Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, Transportation Revolution, and the Technological Revolution. During the Civil War, the birthing of the Industrial Revolution was taking place. The Industrial Revolution is simply the change from manual work, to factory and machinery work. An almost purely agricultural economy, was in the first stages of an industrial revolution in 1800 (Arrington). This evolved to the United States becoming one of the world's leading industrial powers by 1900 (Arrington). A lot of factories deal with the issue of polluting the earth. Therefore, it is more costly to continue to run these factories because of environmental fees and keep the equipment advanced to release less of the harmful chemicals into the air. However, these factories are still being ran today. Electrical and water companies tend to deal with this dilemma. The Transportation Revolution made an incredible impact on the economy as well. Transporting goods was an issue during the 1800s. Technology was not much of a necessity as it is today. Receiving mail, transporting goods, and making imports/exports of products took a very long time. The transportation revolution reduced shipping costs between the East and the West and changed the direction of East-West trade from the U- shaped southern routes to direct northern routes (Binder, pg. 20). Inventions like steamboats and railroads made it possible to

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transport not only goods, but people. In todays society, you have public transportation in major cities like Chicago, New York, and Detroit that includes buses and trains. You also have trains and buses that will travel outside the city and the state. There are also airplanes that makes it easier to travel across the country and abroad. All of these sources of transportation that is in the present day makes an impact on the economy because you have to pay in order to use that source of transportation. There are being planes flown and buses/trains used on a daily basis. Technological Revolution could be described and represented in flexible ways. People may argue that the Industrial and Technological Revolution could be very relatable. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of technological is resulting from improvements in technical processes that increase productivity of machines and eliminates manual operations or operations done by older machines. Therefore, anything that increases a making of a product could be technological. The development and application of technological advances have altered production processes and the United States competitive position in the global economy (Bahrami, pg. 121). Technology really implies to just about everything in the present day. Industries use technology to make clothes and to design them. Technology is being used daily with the use of cell phones, laptops/computers, internet, lighting, and plenty of other places. The most outrageous thing about it is that something is getting invented every day. Technology never rest. This is exactly why you constantly see ads for the latest app or newest cell phone. People are drawn to the fact on staying up-to-date with technology that it has no choice but to make an impact on the economy in America. This is why people are always buying the latest cell phone, headphones, hand-held devices, portable devices, and other popular objects. Overall, the history of America and its economy has been a roller coaster ride. One minute the economy was balanced and there were not any major problems. The next minute, the

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United States is trillions of dollars in debt. If it were not for the wars that took place in the past and recently, a lot of this debt could have been avoided. They economy would have been stronger because there would have been no use of spinning so much money for political and military purposes. I do believe in the protection of this country. However, if the United States did not be involved in some of the wars that took place, debt could have been avoided. Also, I feel that without the revolutions, our economy would have never been as successful as it is assumed to be. The revolutions that took place were major mile stones heading towards the present day. Thank to technology, those same methods that was new to the people in the 1800s, has now been improved tremendously. Both the wars and the revolutions made an impact on the economy for America the Beautiful. Whether it was positive or negative, the United States wouldnt be what it is today without the history behind it.

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Works Cited Bahrami, Bahman. "Insights to a Changing World Journal." Impact of Technological Advance on Income Inequality 1 (2011): 121-32. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <Impact of Technological Advance on Income Inequality.>. Binder, John J. "Social Science History." The Transportation Revolution and Antebellum Sectional Disagreement 35.11 (2011): 19-57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <The Transportation Revolution and Antebellum Sectional Disagreement.>. Duncan, Thomas K., and Christopher J. Coyne. "Independent Review." The Origins of the Permanent War Economy 18.22 (2013): 219-40. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <The Origins of the Permanent War Economy.>. History.com. "American Civil War History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. History.com. "Cold War History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. Pendleton, Claudette. "How Does the Economy Work?" EHow. Demand Media, 28 Oct. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. Striner, Richard. "American Scholar." How to Pay for What We Need: Congress Could Create Money, as It Did during the Civil War, Funding Public Projects That Shock the Economy Back to Life 81.1 (2012): 32-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <How to Pay for What We Need: Congress could create money, as it did during the Civil War, funding public projects that shock the economy back to life.>. United States. National Park Service. "Story (U.S. National Park Service)." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.

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Young, Ken. "Journal of Cold War Studies." Revisiting NSC 68 15.1 (2013): 3-33. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <Revisiting NSC 68.>.