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Making Houses, Crafting Capitalism: Builders in Philadelphia, 1790-1850 by Donna J. Rilling (Hardcover, 2001)

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In the decades after the American Revolution, as Philadelphia became a center of political and economic power, the city experienced extraordinary population growth, increasing from 60,000 to 400,000 inhabitants between 1790 and 1850. By tracing the business strategies of several hundred housebuilders during this period-a medley of traditional craft workers, emerging entrepreneurs, and hustling speculators-Making Houses, Crafting Capitalism uncovers the complex process by which thousands of row houses were constructed and sold, and shows how craftsmen were at the center of this dramatic physical and economic expansion. Simultaneously assuming the roles of craftsmen, entrepreneurs, supervisors, and demiarchitects, the master builders of Philadelphia survived much longer as independent business owners and were more influential than their peers in other cities of Jacksonian America. Facing an ever-changing economic and urban landscape, and encouraged by wealthy Philadelphia families to undertake the financial risks associated with construction, small capitalists exercised great flexibility in their business practices. Early-nineteenth century Philadelphia house artisans also formulated an important new strategy: they acquired credit and built on speculation. Such practices drew them deeply into a competitive and volatile economy, and artisans in the Philadelphia construction trades responded as spirited, innovative entrepreneurs who plunged wholeheartedly into the dangers and rewards of capitalism. When credit flowed, they competed for contracts to build ten, twenty, even forty houses at a time. When business slowed during the economic depressions of the period, they ferreted out small jobs, repairs, renovations, and custom work. In Making Houses, Crafting Capitalism, Donna J. Rilling follows the work of entrepreneurial builders, from the procurement of bricks and mortar to the eventual marketing and sale of a finished house. By tracing these activities, Rilling demonstrates the diverse ways capital markets, worksites, raw materials, and the real estate business changed over six decades. She opens the world of artisans to reveal their creative impact on the Philadelphia economy and the ways they exploited the shifting organization of work and capital to secure their financial independence. The aggressive craftsmen profiled in Making Houses, Crafting Capitalism will enrich and complicate how historians think about small producers and their role in the nineteenth-century economy.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN-13
9780812235807
eBay Product ID (ePID)
105189527

Product Key Features

Author
Donna J. Rilling
Publication Name
Making Houses, Crafting Capitalism: Builders in Philadelphia, 1790-1850
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
History
Publication Year
2001
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
280 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
Donna J. Rilling
Series Title
Early American Studies
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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Making Houses, Crafting Capitalism: Builders in Philadelphia, 1790-1850 by Donna J. Rilling (Hardcover, 2001)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Adult Learning & University

Australian Guidebook for Structural Engineers by Lonnie Pack (Paperback, 2019)

Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Religious Studies Route B: Catholic Christianity and Judaism by Deirdre Cleary, Andrew Barron, Joy White, Patrick Harrison (Paperback, 2017)

Time Management by Peter Quarry (Paperback, 1986)

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe (Paperback, 2007)

Save on Adult Learning & University

The Australian Native Bee Hive Book: Keeping Stingless Sugarbag OATH Tim Heard

Weed Forager's Handbook: A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia by A

Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy: Classic Regional Approach

The Indoctrinated Brain: How to Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack on Your

Tuning the A-Series Engine: the Definitive Manual on tuning for Performance or E

Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by George Hrabovsky

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