A Vigorous Spirit of Enterprise: Merchants and Economic Development in Revolutionary Philadelphia (Published by the Omohundro In

A social, economic, and political study of Philadelphia merchants, this study presents both the spirit and statistics of merchant life. Doerflinger studies the Philadelphia merchant community from three perspectives: their commercial world, their confrontation with the Revolution and its aftermath, and their role in diversifying the local economy. The analysis of entrepreneurship dominates the study and challenges longstanding assumptions about American economic history.