Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, History

This dissertation explores the idea that the heightened level of economic activity required to supply the army acted as a powerful force engendering economic change within early America. The central question driving my research places the supply of the early American army in conversation with the nation's financial development. How did efforts to supply the army evolve over time and what role did this activity play in influencing the nation's changing economic policy in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries? How indeed did military procurement impact American economic development during the early years of the republic? It is my argument that supply by contract emerged as the principal means by which to feed the army during the early republic due to expediency. Quite simply, early government officials reduced significant overhead procurement and distribution costs by turning over these responsibilities to credible bidders in a manner that fit well with the prevailing tenets of republican ideology yet acknowledged the advent of liberal motivations. Leaner government, for example, especially in those offices intimately connected with the military, appealed to those revolutionaries concerned about large standing armies. Reliance upon contractors, moreover, minimized in theory the likelihood that the military would need to forcibly impress supplies from the civilian population from which it so dearly needed support. These negotiated agreements shifted considerable burden away from the government while shielding it somewhat from any criticism accompanying failure. The relative merits of the system never endured sustained scrutiny—more often than not, the end of a campaign or conflict obscured those inadequacies of the system that continued war would likely have exposed. The interaction of government official, supply contractor, and army officer suggested a society struggling to reconcile values in a changing economic world. The triangular nature of the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Grimsley (Advisor); Peter Mansoor (Committee Member); John Brooke (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Economic History; Finance; History; Military History