author
Henry Charles Carey
1793–1879
A leading voice in 19th-century American economics, he argued that national growth depended on industry, infrastructure, and protective tariffs rather than laissez-faire free trade. His writing helped shape the ideas behind the so-called American School during a formative period in U.S. history.
2 Audiobooks
The Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign Why It Exists, and How It May Be Extinguished
by Henry Charles Carey
Letters on International Copyright; Second Edition
by Henry Charles Carey
About the author
Born in Philadelphia on December 15, 1793, Henry Charles Carey grew up in a publishing family headed by his father, Mathew Carey. He entered the family business and later became a successful publisher himself before turning much of his attention to political economy.
Carey became one of the best-known American economists of the 1800s. He is closely associated with the American School, a tradition that favored protective tariffs and saw agriculture, manufacturing, and commerce as parts of a single national system rather than rivals. Among his major works are The Harmony of Interests and Principles of Social Science.
During the Civil War era, his ideas carried real political weight: he is widely described as an important adviser to President Abraham Lincoln and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. He died on October 13, 1879, leaving behind a body of work that made him one of the most influential American economic thinkers of his century.