The methods used to account for business assets in Britain and the United States during the nineteenth century are here examined in a context of interplay between “internal economic criteria” and “external constraints.”

This composite portrait of a “community” of printers reveals the composition of their trade and the unique mixture of businessman and publicist they represented in early America.

Although short-lived, the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie played an active role in the economic life of its locale. Its history contrasts the hopes and the realities of commercial banking on the American frontier.

The pragmatic origins of government policy toward business are well illustrated in this study of the reduced-rate provisions granted to certain American railroads during the 19th century.

This study demonstrates how business desires to improve information regarding foreign operations and a genuine interest in America's image abroad combined with civil-service reform sentiment to effect change in a vital branch of government service.

When John P. Cushing retired as head of Perkins and Co. in Canton in 1828, the American trade with China was flourishing. In the early years, the business was conducted largely by supercargoes who traveled in each individual vessel, such as the Empress of China, which arrived in Macao in 1784 and became the first American ship to trade with the Chinese. But in later years, as trade with China became increasingly important, American firms were established in China with connections in the United States, factories and agents in Canton, and fleets of several vessels at their disposal. Perkins and Co. was such a firm.