Frontmatter -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- I. Wages from 1860 to I945 -- II. Labor Productivity -- III. Real Wages and the Standard of Living -- IV. Through Two World Wars -- V. Wage Differentials -- VI. Regional Differences -- VII. The Role of Trade Unionism -- VIII. Conclusion --...

After the Revolutionary War, despite political independence, the United States still relied on other countries for manufactured goods. Francis Cabot Lowell, born in Massachusetts in 1775, was one of the principal investors in building the India Wharf and the shops and warehouses close to the...