Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the editors of The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Author(s): Gary B. Nash
Description
Depending on your reading speed, this article may take you as long as two hours to read. Be sure to give yourself enough time to read it thoroughly.
Taking notes can help you stay focused. As a way to keep the article straight in your head, here is an overview how it is structured:
Pg. 545-546 - Intro - with some really great, contrasting quotes from historical sources.
Pgs. 546-547 - Discussion of major secondary sources on the topic.
Pgs. 548-573 - Discussion of primary sources related to colonial economic conditions.
Pgs. 574 - 579 - Discussion of what conclusions can be drawn from the economic data, merged with a discussion of historical events (wars and economic ups and downs) that help explain the data.
Pg. 579 ends with a paragraph of interesting questions that Nash acknowledges he can't fully answer, but the last sentence of that paragraph (over on page 580) is very important to what Nash is staying all of this means.
Pg. 580 -582 - Shifts to a discussion of what all this means in terms of the American Revolution. The first full paragraph on 580 should be read closely, but these last few pages are the conclusion of what Nash is trying to argue.
Pgs. 583 on are appendices that go into further detail about the sources and their statistical validity. You don't have to read them, unless you are an economic history or stats buff and just want to.
Note: This article reminds us that scholars have been looking at what percentage of people control what percentage of wealth for a long time; Nash wrote this in 1976, well before our focus on "the 1%," so don't get caught up in thinking Nash is just jumping on some kind of current fad with this article.
Answer the questions below. Your answers should showcase what you have learned from the article and what you think of it. As such, each answer should be at least five to six sentences in length.
Answers shorter than that will receive a zero. Answers that meet the length requirement will be graded on both content and quality of response and will not automatically receive full credit just because there are five to six sentences there. If you just restate parts of the outline above - which was deliberately left vague - then it will be clear you did not closely read the article and you will not receive full credit for your answers.
What is Nash's thesis? What is he trying to convince you is true about people Colonial America and the reasons they might have participated in the American Revolution?
[Hint: He believes that there is a connection between changing social and economic status for poor and middle-class colonists that eventually caused them to be more willing to participate in the American Revolution. So, to answer this question, think about what he says those changes were, and how he says they caused people to be more willing to participate in the Rev.]
On page 546, as a good scholarly writer often does, Dr. Nash summarizes what other historians have already said about the topic he is writing about. (Really great scholars use this part of their essay to show the reader why their article is needed). What does Nash identify as the problem with what these other scholars have said? (Be specific!)
From page 548 to about 573, Nash digs through a number of primary sources and uses them to show how wealth and poverty changed during the colonial period. (If you love numbers, you love Nash; if you don't, this is not going to be your favorite article.) Utilizing specific examples, discuss two of these sources and explain why they are useful to the point Nash is trying to make.
Does Nash believe that colonists were solely motivated by ideology to support the American Revolution? Why or why not?
How does this article add to your understanding of American history?