Capitalism by Gaslight

Brian P. Luskey teaches history at West Virginia University. He is author of On the Make: Clerks and the Quest for Capital in Nineteenth-Century America. Wendy A. Woloson teaches history at Rutgers University-Camden. She is the author of In Hock: Pawning in America from Independence Through the Great Depression and Refined Tastes: Sugar, Confectionery, and Consumers in Nineteenth-Century American Culture.

• Introduction-Brian P. Luskey and Wendy A. WolosonChapter 1. The Loomis Gang's Market Revolution-Will B. MackintoshChapter 2. The Promiscuous Economy: Cultural and Commercial Geographies of Secondhand in the Antebellum City-Robert J. GambleChapter 3. The Era of Shinplasters: Making Sense of Unregulated Paper Money-Joshua R. GreenbergChapter 4. The Rag Race: Jewish Secondhand Clothing Dealers in England and America-Adam MendelsohnChapter 5. Lickspittles and Land Sharks: The Immigrant Exploitation Business in Antebellum New York-Brendan P. O'MalleyChapter 6. "The World Is But One Vast Mock Auction": Fraud and Capitalism in Nineteenth-Century America-Corey GoettschChapter 7. Underground on the High Seas: Commerce, Character, and Complicity in the Illegal Slave Trade-Craig B. HollanderChapter 8. "Some Rascally Business": Thieving Slaves, Unscrupulous Whites, and Charleston's Illicit Waterfront Trade-Michael D. ThompsonChapter 9. Selling Sex and Intimacy in the City: The Changing Business of Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century Baltimore-Katie M. HemphillChapter 10. Economies of Print in the Nineteenth-Century City-Paul EricksonChapter 11. Back Number Budd: An African American Pioneer in the Old Newspaper and Information Management Business-Ellen Gruber GarveyConclusion-Brian P. Luskey and Wendy A. WolosonNotesIndexList of ContributorsAcknowledgments

"A valuable addition to the rapidly growing literature on the history of capitalism in the United States." (Gary Kornblith, Oberlin College) "This engagingly presented volume is a truly important contribution to the economic and cultural history of the nineteenth century and to the history of capitalism." (Rosanne Currarino, Queens University)