PREVIEW

Empire Builders: How Michigan Entrepeneurs Helped Make America Great (Book/ Paperback)

Product Overview

A handful of early Michigan entrepreneurs, including the Fords, Durants, Kelloggs, and Dows, transformed the state from a backwater wilderness into the industrial heart of North America. What made them and Michigan so pivotal in the innovations and inventions-from cars to corn flakes to Saran Wrap-that impact most of us each day? Folsom's inspiring account chronicles the roles of markets, government, politics, and individual achievement in the development of Michigan from its fur trading days, through the lumber era that led to furniture and carriage industries, leading finally to world-class automobile, cereal, and chemical industries. Spectacular failures of state-owned canal and railroad companies led to a crucial constitutional amendment in 1851 that restricted the business activities of state government. The amendment helped set the stage for massive private investment and prosperity for millions of workers. Whether you are a history buff, teacher, student, entrepreneur, or just a lover of Michigan, you will want to read this book.

Empire Builders is the remarkable story of how Michigan's early entrepreneurs led the United States to global prominence in cars, chemicals, and corn flakes. Henry Ford, Billy Durant, Herbert Dow, and Will Kellogg all failed before they succeeded—and sometimes even after they succeeded. Yet they shared a stubborn persistence to invent and market something that would make life simpler for millions of people.

At a time when Americans seem confused about their past, Empire Builders provides readers with triumphant heroes, dramatic stories, and a useful heritage to study and learn.

This book is also included in our Case Studies in Business History set.

About the Author(s)

Dr. Burton Folsom Jr. is a history professor at Hillsdale College and senior fellow in economic education for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. From 1994 -1999, Folsom was the Mackinac Center's senior fellow in economic history. Folsom has authored dozens of widely reprinted articles about Michigan's rich and varied past as well as a 1997 book, Empire Builders: How Michigan Entrepreneurs Helped Make America Great. His other books include The Myth of the Robber Barons, now in its third edition, and Urban Capitalists. He also has edited two volumes, The Spirit of Freedom: Essays in American History and The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade. His work has appeared in major newspapers and magazines including The Detroit News, The American Spectator, and The Wall Street Journal. Folsom received his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Pittsburgh and since 1988 has served as editor of Continuity: A Journal of History.