Publications

Current proponents of industrial policy in the United States sometimes refer to Alexander Hamilton’s December 1791 Report on the Subject of Manufactures (hereafter Manufactures) as an early endorsement of industrial policy,) and a precedent for the sorts of industrial policies they would like to see implemented in our own time. After all, if Hamilton—a leading founder of the United States, a framer of its Constitution, its first Secretary of the Treasury, and the hero States,  and the hero of a celebrated Broadway musical—was for industrial policy, how could be against it? In Hamilton’s time, of course, many notable thinkers and policy-makers were against industrial policy, just as many are today.

Richard Sylla is Professor Emeritus of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University, New York City, New York. He is also a Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Discover the neighborhood where Alexander Hamilton built his country home, George Gershwin wrote his first hit, a young Norman Rockwell discovered he liked to draw, and Ralph Ellison wrote Invisible Man. Davida Siwisa James dispels many misconceptions about Harlem’s history and reveals its vibrant story through this 400-year tour of the people and places in Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill.

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You may also purchase the book directly through Fordham University Press using the discount code AHAS25-FI (expires 12/31/2024), which provides 25% discount and free shipping on the hardcover ($26.21 after discount) or an e-book for only $9.99.

Slavery is not in America’s DNA. In the words of historian Gordon Wood, the American “Revolution created the first antislavery movement in the history of the world.”So why did it take a Civil War to finally end chattel slavery, a war whose consequences still shape American politics today?

Nancy Spannaus argues that the crucial factor was the abandonment of the economic principles of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton envisioned creating an agro-industrial nation, which could only be built by eliminating the slave system. When Jefferson, and then Andrew Jackson, undermined and crushed Hamilton’s program, they put the nation on the path to war.

Destined to Be a Hamilton was written by Mary Anne Hamilton, widow of Alexander Hamilton’s great-great grandson, Laurens Morgan Hamilton. He had tried for decades to inform people about Hamilton’s contributions to our nation’s foundation. After Mary Anne saw Hamilton, An American Musical on Broadway in 2016, she realized why her late husband was so passionate about Hamilton’s legacy. Her book combines her incredible life stories with 90 facts about Hamilton, 70 photos, most in color, and QR Codes to online resources.

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