Classical Capitalism and It's Consequences

This week, we are continuing to look at the aspects of classical capitalism - that is we are looking at the very foundations of what capitalism was when it started.  Important things to remember - Adam Smith is generally seen as the "father of capitalism" because it was his ideas that laid the foundation for the free market to develop.  Once we have looked at the implementation of classical capitalism, ie: The Industrial Revolution, we will look at two case studies of capitalists - Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller.  These two chaps were entrepreneurs who had different interpretations of what it meant to be a capitalist and how they interpreted and used capitalist theory. After that, we will look at some of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution on the people of the world and, more specifically, government and citizen responses to it.

So for roughly the next two and a half weeks, we will be analyzing what a free market economy is and the good and bad parts of it.  

This Week In Social Class...

Monday

• How the Industrial Revolution started and consequences
• Capitalism questions
• Capitalism vs. Socialism

Tuesday

• Vocabulary: Vertical Integration, Horizontal Integration and Monopoly 
• Case Study: Henry Ford
• Case Study: John D. Rockefeller
• Discussion: who was the better capitalist and why?

Wednesday

• Citizen and government responses to industrialization
• Responses in the Industrial Revolution
• Roosevelt's Progressivism
• Debate: Is it the government's responsibility to check industrial growth and protect workers in a capitalist economy?

Thursday

• Thanksgiving celebration and Homeroom Challenge
• Rants: April and Courtney
• Finish up with responses to capitalism