This book vividly illustrates the history of business in the United States from the point of view of the enterprising men and women who made it happen. Ever since the first colonists landed in the New World, Americans have forged ahead in their quest to make good on promises of capitalism and independence. Weaving stirring narrative with economic analysis, this historical deep dive recounts the successes and failures of some of the most iconic business people to grace our history books--from the founding of our country to the present day. In American Entrepreneur, you’ll learn about how: Eli Whitney changed the shape of the American business landscape; the Civil War impacted the economy, and how it was renewed by the subsequent dominance of Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan; Asa Candler, W. K. Kellogg, Henry Ford, and J.C. Penney led the rise of the consumer marketplace; and Warren Buffett’s, Michael Milken’s, and Martha Stewart’s experience in the “New Economy” in the 1990s--and how that economy continues today. It is an adventure to start a business, and the greatest risk takers in that adventure are entrepreneurs. This is the epic story of America’s entrepreneurs and how they created the economy we enjoy today.

In this wide-ranging study Stephen Foster explores Puritanism in England and America from its roots in the Elizabethan era to the end of the seventeenth century. Focusing on Puritanism as a cultural and political phenomenon as well as a religious movement, Foster addresses parallel developments on both sides of the Atlantic and firmly embeds New England Puritanism within its English context. He provides not only an elaborate critque of current interpretations of Puritan ideology but also an original and insightful portrayal of its dynamism. According to Foster, Puritanism represented a loose and incomplete alliance of progressive Protestants, lay and clerical, aristocratic and humble, who never decided whether they were the vanguard or the remnant. Indeed, in Foster's analysis, changes in New England Puritanism after the first decades of settlement did not indicate secularization and decline but instead were part of a pattern of change, conflict, and accomodation that had begun in England. He views the Puritans' own claims of declension as partisan propositions in an internal controversy as old as the Puritan movement itself. The result of these stresses and adaptations, he argues, was continued vitality in American Puritanism during the second half of the seventeenth century. Foster draws insights from a broad range of souces in England and America, including sermons, diaries, spiritual autobiographies, and colony, town, and court records. Moreover, his presentation of the history of the English and American Puritan movements in tandem brings out the fatal flaws of the former as well as the modest but essential strengths of the latter.

The Next Century Schools program was launched by the RJR Nabisco Foundation to fund bold ideas for fundamental change in public education. This is the landmark book about that program and the schools that have participated. Now is the time for action, and this book is about one thing only--solutions.

America is the ultimate start-up venture – and these are the heroes who made it happen The history of the United States is, to a remarkable degree, the story of its entrepreneurs, those daring movers and shakers who dreamed big and risked everything to build better lives for themselves and their fellow Americans. Drawing on his own family's remarkable journey, Duck Commander CEO and star of the blockbuster Duck Dynasty series Willie Robertson tells the captivating true tale of the visionaries and doers who have embodied the American dream. We begin with the first American entrepreneurs, the Native Americans, who established a highly sophisticated commercial network across the land in the precolonial days. The original Founding Father, George Washington, was also a founding entrepreneur, at the head of a thriving agribusiness venture that gave him the executive skills to steer the nation through the darkest hours of the American Revolution. Then, of course, there were the mega entrepreneurs, legendary figures like Astor, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Rockefeller, who transformed America, connected the country with miles of railroad track and supplied the fuel and steel that would help make America the most powerful nation on earth. And in recent years, business visionaries like Jobs, Gates, and Zuckerberg—not to mention the thousands of equally vital, yet smaller-scale, operators who spring up every year—have ushered America into the twenty-first century. American Entrepreneur also relates the story of the Robertson family business, telling how Willie’s family turned a humble regional duck call manufacturer, founded by his father, Phil, into an international powerhouse brand. From a young age, Willie had the entrepreneurial bug, buying candy in bulk and hawking it on the school bus. He did special orders and earned a small fortune for a ten-year-old—until he was hauled into the principal’s office and told to knock it off. So he transferred his focus to Phil’s fledgling business, helping in whatever way he could, from folding endless numbers of cardboard boxes to acting as the company’s customer service department—though he still wasn’t out of grade school. Willie helped build Duck Commander, which he now runs, into a worldwide brand, culminating in the mega success of the Duck Dynasty television show. American Entrepreneur tells a most American tale, of those among us who, through their vision, ingenuity, and good old-fashioned hard work, made something that changed the world.

Franchises have become an ever-present feature of American life, both in our landscapes and our economics. Peter M. Birkeland worked for three years in the front-line operations of franchise units for three companies, met with CEOs and executives, and attended countless trade shows, seminars, and expositions. Through this extensive fieldwork Birkeland not only discovered what makes franchisees succeed or fail, he uncovered the difficulties in running a business according to someone else's system and values. Bearing witness to a market flooded with fierce competitors and dependent on the inscrutable whims of consumers, he revealed the numerous challenges that franchisees face in making their businesses succeed. Book jacket.

Beginning with a summary of 200 years of entrepreneurship among African Americans, then moving to in-depth interviews with contemporary entrepreneurs, Michael Woodard provides a powerful record of entrepreneurial vitality in a market that is often hostile and exclusive. The book covers businesses nationwide, representing diverse industries. Woodard ends on a practical note with resources and advice for anyone contemplating an entrepreneurial future.

Since its publication in 1991, Entrepreneurship and Self-Help among Black Americans has become a classic work, influencing the study of entrepreneurship and, more importantly, revitalizing a research tradition that places new ventures at the very center of success for black Americans. This revised edition updates and enhances the work by bringing it into the twenty-first century. John Sibley Butler traces the development of black enterprises and other community organizations among black Americans from before the Civil War to the present. He compares these efforts to other strong traditions of self-help among groups such as Japanese Americans, Jewish Americans, Greek Americans, and exciting new research on the Amish and the Pakistani. He also explores how higher education is already a valued tradition among black self-help groups—such that today their offspring are more likely to be third and fourth generation college graduates. Butler effectively challenges the myth that nothing can be done to salvage America's underclass without a massive infusion of public dollars, and offers a fresh perspective on those community based organizations and individuals who act to solve local social and economic problems.