Money and Politics in America, 1755-1775: Non-fiction Study by Joseph Albert Ernst

Colonial Economic Background

The study is set in the mid-18th century American colonies when economic life was dominated by barter, specie, and paper money. Colonial economies struggled with currency shortages and complex relations with British monetary policy, especially following the Currency Act of 1764, which restricted colonial paper money. This period, just before the American Revolution, saw money as a critical tool influencing power and political stability in the colonies.

Political Economy and Legislative Impact

Ernst’s work explores the intertwined nature of money and politics, focusing on how British policies shaped colonial economic behavior and political tension. The Currency Act of 1764 is central, as it prohibited colonies from issuing new paper money, undermining their fiscal autonomy and angering local governments reliant on such currency for trade and debt servicing. Ernst analyses how financial restrictions contributed to revolutionary sentiment by fueling colonial opposition to perceived economic control by Britain. His study integrates monetary history with political developments, demonstrating that currency was a battleground for broader struggles over authority and rights during 1755-1775.

Intellectual Framework and Historical Method

Ernst applies a political economy framework, blending economic history with political analysis to explain colonial resistance. He situates the Currency Act within broader imperial economic policies and examines its consequences for colonial political mobilization. His research relies on archival data including legislative records and contemporary writings, highlighting the role of economic constraints in colonial ideology and revolution. This interdisciplinary approach advances understanding of revolution causes beyond purely political or ideological explanations by incorporating financial pressures and policy impacts.

Key themes

• The Currency Act of 1764 as a tool of British fiscal control over American colonies.
• Economic tensions caused by banning colonial paper money issuance.
• Impact on colonial trade, credit systems, and economic autonomy.
• Role of the Act in escalating political resistance leading to the American Revolution.
• Tensions between imperial mercantilism and colonial economic interests.
• Colonial perceptions of Parliamentary overreach and threats to local governance.

Motifs & problems

Recurring symbols include colonial currency and British pounds sterling representing competing sovereignties and economic control. The Act’s ban on paper money symbolizes the loss of colonial self-determination and economic freedom, fueling perceptions of British exploitation. The interpretive crux lies in how economic policies framed as stabilizing empire finances instead catalyzed colonial unity and revolutionary sentiment, highlighting contradictions between imperial ambitions and colonial autonomy. The paper money restriction also embodies broader colonial grievances about representation and justice.

Study questions

• How did the Currency Act challenge colonial economic practices?
• In what ways did the Act reflect British mercantilist policies?
• Why did the Currency Act provoke such strong colonial opposition?
• How did colonial leaders use the Currency Act to argue for political rights?
• What role did economic control play in the buildup to the American Revolution?
• How did the Currency Act interact with other British measures like the Sugar Act?
• In what ways did banning paper money affect daily colonial life?
• Can the Currency Act be seen as a turning point in colonial-British relations?

Critical approaches & debates

Scholarship on Joseph Albert Ernst’s Money and Politics in America, 1755-1775 engages primarily with Marxist and political economy frameworks, examining class conflict and the economic roots of revolution. Some readings emphasize Ernst’s detailed institutional analysis of colonial monetary policy and its ties to imperial governance, while others critique a perceived insufficient focus on cultural or ideological dimensions of colonial resistance. Feminist or postcolonial approaches tend to be less prominent but argue for broader contexts including gender and colonial subjectivity. Disagreements revolve around whether economic policies like the Currency Act directly caused revolutionary tensions or were part of larger political-economic shifts preceding the American Revolution.

Key passages

Ernst’s analysis of the Currency Act of 1764 highlights how British restrictions on colonial paper money strained local economies and challenged colonial legislative independence. He details the political maneuvering and economic consequences of the Act, using institutional records and merchant reactions to reveal the deepening conflict between British imperial control and American economic interests. This turn in the argument is pivotal for linking monetary policy to revolutionary sentiment.

Bibliography

Ernst, Joseph Albert. Money and Politics in America, 1755-1775: A Study in the Currency Act of 1764 and the Political Economy of Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1973. Foundational colonial currency laws and merchant almanacs provide primary context. Recent works on Atlantic economy and imperial policy complement these sources.