This book demonstrates that American agricultural development was far more dynamic than generally portrayed. In the two centuries before World War II, a stream of biological innovations revolutionized the crop and livestock sectors, increasing both land and labor productivity. Biological innovations were essential for the movement of agriculture onto new lands with more extreme climates, for maintaining production in the face of evolving threats from pests, and for the creation of the modern livestock sector. These innovations established the foundation for the subsequent Green and Genetic Revolutions. The book challenges the misconceptions that, before the advent of hybrid corn, American farmers single-mindedly invested in labor-saving mechanical technologies and that biological technologies were static.

Over sixty percent of all infectious human diseases, including tuberculosis, influenza, cholera, and hundreds more, are shared with other vertebrate animals. Arresting Contagion "tells the story of how early efforts to combat livestock infections turned the United States from a disease-prone nation into a world leader in controlling communicable diseases. Alan Olmstead and Paul Rhode show that many innovations devised in the fight against animal diseases, ranging from border control and food inspection to drug regulations and the creation of federal research labs, provided the foundation for modern food safety programs and remain at the heart of U.S. public health policy.

America s first concerted effort to control livestock diseases dates to the founding of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in 1884. Because the BAI represented a milestone in federal regulation of commerce and industry, the agency encountered major jurisdictional and constitutional obstacles. Nevertheless, it proved effective in halting the spread of diseases, counting among its early breakthroughs the discovery of Salmonella "and advances in the understanding of vector-borne diseases.

By the 1940s, government policies had eliminated several major animal diseases, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and establishing a model for eradication that would be used around the world. Although scientific advances played a key role, government interventions did as well. Today, a dominant economic ideology frowns on government regulation of the economy, but the authors argue that in this case it was an essential force for good."

These institutions were founded ostensibly for philanthropic purposes--to encourage and reward thrift on the part of society's lower classes. For purposes of analysis, Olmstead formulates an alternative hypothesis. Men organized mutuals for the same reason that impelled their other business ventures--the hope of profit. The author focuses on the internal operations of several banks and the important role they played in financing antebellum development.
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Long the standard source for quantitative indicators of American history, a new edition of Historical Statistics of the United States is something that reference librarians, historians, and social scientists have long awaited. Not since the Bicentennial Edition was published in 1975 has new data and material been available. At last, a sweeping, comprehensive, and thoroughly revised new edition is available; one that reflects thirty years of information and new scholarship. Utilizing information from the 2000 Census, this essential reference has been updated for the new Millennium providing rich materials for both contemporary and historical researchers. Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition is a stunning achievement and a monumental work of collaborative scholarship providing a comprehensive compendium of statistics from over 1,000 sources recording every aspect of the history of the United States from population to prices; from voting patterns to Vietnam veterans; from energy to education; from abortions to zinc and everything in between. Over 80 scholars have contributed their efforts and expertise to select, assemble, and document the data, to write the introductory essays, and to analyze the material. To learn more about Historical Statistics of the United States, please visit the Historical Statistics of the United States website