Capitalism by Gaslight (Ebook) von Brian P. Luskey

A compelling history of nineteenth-century economic, social, and cultural life, Capitalism by Gaslight explores the blurred boundary between legitimate and illegitimate economic activity, describing the dealings of prostitutes, dealers in dirty books and used goods, mock auctioneers, illegal slavers, and other entrepreneurs.

Introduction—Brian P. Luskey and Wendy A. Woloson

Chapter 1. The Loomis Gang's Market Revolution—Will B. Mackintosh

Chapter 2. The Promiscuous Economy: Cultural and Commercial Geographies of Secondhand in the Antebellum City—Robert J. Gamble

Chapter 3. The Era of Shinplasters: Making Sense of Unregulated Paper Money—Joshua R. Greenberg

Chapter 4. The Rag Race: Jewish Secondhand Clothing Dealers in England and America—Adam Mendelsohn

Chapter 5. Lickspittles and Land Sharks: The Immigrant Exploitation Business in Antebellum New York—Brendan P. O'Malley

Chapter 6. "The World Is But One Vast Mock Auction": Fraud and Capitalism in Nineteenth-Century America—Corey Goettsch

Chapter 7. Underground on the High Seas: Commerce, Character, and Complicity in the Illegal Slave Trade—Craig B. Hollander

Chapter 8. "Some Rascally Business": Thieving Slaves, Unscrupulous Whites, and Charleston's Illicit Waterfront Trade—Michael D. Thompson

Chapter 9. Selling Sex and Intimacy in the City: The Changing Business of Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century Baltimore—Katie M. Hemphill

Chapter 10. Economies of Print in the Nineteenth-Century City—Paul Erickson

Chapter 11. Back Number Budd: An African American Pioneer in the Old Newspaper and Information Management Business—Ellen Gruber Garvey

Conclusion—Brian P. Luskey and Wendy A. Woloson

Notes
Index
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments