Critics argue that textbooks are intellectual fast food, lacking in both flavor and nutrition. They charge that textbooks alone cannot adequately capture the complexity of issues, the subtlety of argument, and the richness of evidence needed to convey the character of the discipline of economic history (Mitch, 1990). We agree.

The purpose of a college education is to search for truth while exercising the mind's powers of reasoning and analysis. In using this reader, you will discover how professional economic historians search for truth, and will be compelled to exert your intellect far more than if you only read a textbook. You will discover that history is not written in stone, that there is an ongoing, never-ending debate about the meaning of the past. You will discover the methods and sources used by economic historians. You will have to grapple with the structure of arguments, the meaning of evidence, the applicability of theories, and the rhetorical devices used in persuasion.

The essays included here are widely used in American economic history classes and could be considered best-sellers. We think highly of each one, but do not necessarily agree with the conclusions of any of the works and do not mean to imply that they are the final or official interpretations, nor that they are the “truth.” Each of these essays demonstrates the craftsmanship, ingenuity, and skill involved in drawing conclusions given limited historical evidence.