An excellent book, written by the comedian and tv critic:
Kitman, Marvin. 1989. The Making of the Prefident, 1789: The Unauthorized Campaign Biography (NY: Harper & Row).
also see his book about W's expense account.
See what trivia we academics collect.
Lebergott, Stanley. 1984. öThe Americans: An Economic Recordò (NY: Norton).
87: He cites Azel Backus. repr. ed. 1961. Connecticut Towns: Bethlehem, 1812 and Watertown 1801, pp. 3,8. says that a 70 acre lot was sold for a jackknife, a paper of pins, 2 quarts of molasses, and a dozen needles; land in "general had risen by 100 percent within the memory of the present generation." Also land could be monetized: in 1830s, raw land in western New York sold for 29 to 49 cents per acre. After the land was cleared of trees and bush, it became worth $10 per acre.
Soltow, Lee. 1987. "The Distribution of Income in the United States in 1798:
Estimates Based on the Federal Housing Inventory." öReview of Economics and Statisticsò, 49: 1 (February): pp. 181-85.
182: A congressman from Kentucky claimed that there was less than $10,000 in coinage in the entire state in 1798.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu