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Contents
Introduction
History of Entrepreneurship in U.S.A
Conclusion
Bibliography
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Introduction
Entrepreneurship is among the energetic and vital aspects of any economy.
Entrepreneurial activity has characterized the business space in the U.S.A. in recent centuries,
changing with the advancements and new ways of doing business, inventions, and technology.
The entrepreneurialism evident in this part of the world is no strange in the country founded by
risk-takers and innovators looking for new avenues. The word entrepreneur was incorporated
into the English language in the 19th century during entrepreneur’s golden era when numerous
economic fortunes were exploding. However, the entrepreneurship practice is much older and
dates back to ancient years. From the early beginning, the U.S.A. is a country of opportunity
seekers (Price, 2015). The U.S. was majorly founded in entrepreneurship, with entrepreneurs and
other business stakeholders taking center stage of this history.
History of Entrepreneurship in the U.S.A.
Early in the 17th century, the Virginia Company dispatched three ships across the Atlantic
with 109 passengers arriving at Jamestown, Virginia. The passengers had set on the journey to
exploit a business idea on setting up large-scale plantations. The firm was a joint-stock company,
a new invention that allowed Americans to invest in businesses without losing their proceeds if
the entity failed. Companies increased the number of people they could allow as entrepreneurs
by consolidating their resources while avoiding liability risk (Gordon, 2014). This type of
business operation was known as a corporation, one of the greatest inventions during the
Renaissance period. The same period saw the invention of printing and entry bookkeeping
activities.
As early as 1811, the U.S.A. allowed incorporation as a matter of law, which did not
require an act of the country’s legislative or executive body. States began to pass incorporation
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laws in support of businesses. Soon after, the enlarged scope of the incorporation ideology led to
an explosion of the number of incorporations in the country. This explosion led to an increased
number of incorporations registered in British North America, with Pennsylvania State
incorporating over 2000 business entities between 100 and 1860 (Gordon, 2014). Virginia
Company, the firm that started the incorporation journey, never performed well in the years after
its inception since plantations' business was new, and the learning framework was quite hard.
This learning curve would continue to be encountered frequently in the American economy as
new industries and businesses developed.
Even though many American colonies ended up in the hands of the English colonizers,
others such as Massachusetts Bay, Virginia, and Plymouth were developed by corporations
seeking profits. On the other hand, proprietors developed others such as Maryland and
Pennsylvania. However, many of these enterprises had no entrepreneurial intentions,
concentrating majorly as refuge areas for religious dissenters (Gordon, 2014). Cities such as New
York were developed by Dutch settlers, with profits being the sole reason for developing
Manhattan. Long after the British took over the New York colony, the devotion to commerce
remained, with New York City becoming a major economic success in the years leading to 1960.
Fur trade spurred the areas economic and entrepreneurial rise.
Along the way, American entrepreneurial activity took an upward turn in the 19th century,
with more entrepreneurs willing to take the risk. The freedom that existed in the country after
independence allowed them to take additional risks. In 1806, Fredric Tudor, an entrepreneur,
decided to sell ice by sourcing it cheaply and selling it in southern states where it was needed
(Gordon, 2014). He sourced the ice from New England, and by 14 years of his operation, he was
able to ship over 2000 tons of his product per year. In the mid-18th century, Ice was New
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England’s main export. However, the business died in the early 1900s after the invention of
refrigerators. By the beginning of the 20th century, the American economy was being elevated by
the emergence of new corporations and great entrepreneurial minds with numerous job
opportunities being created. Before 1960, some huge names in entrepreneurship were Henry
Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller.
Andrew Carnegie is an icon in the entrepreneurship field who is remembered in the
history of American Businesses. He was a Scottish-American industrialist of the 19th and early
20th century. Carnegie is particularly remembered as an entrepreneur who believed in community
wellbeing. He gave over 90% of his fortunes to charities, foundations, and universities in his last
years of life. The entrepreneur composed the gospel of wealth, which offered a dignified
solution, believing that entrepreneurs who willingly give back to their communities show that
inequality is a non-permanent ideology that can benefit the public (Harvey et al., 2011). He led
the steel industry's expansion in the 19th century through the Carnegie Steel Company, making
him one of the richest people in the country’s history.
John D. Rockefeller is another entrepreneur who impacted the U.S.A. economic scene in
a might way. Considered the wealthiest American, Rockefeller invested heavily in the oil
industry by founding the Standard Oil Company. At his peak, he controlled over 90% of the U.S.
oil market when fuel was the major source of electricity before the invention of electricity.
Rockefeller adopted rare strategies within the 4A+A domain trusting in his ability to shape the
future (Bolanos, 2019). He also gained enormous impact over the railroad system that was the
primary transportation mode for oil products to different parts of the country. Rockefeller
transformed the oil industry through his syndicated and technological advancements, which led
to affordable prices in an era when motor vehicles and other machinery had started to emerge.
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The entrepreneurship history of the U.S.A. would be incomplete without mention Henry
Ford, an entrepreneur who revolutionized the motor industry. His fascination with gasoline-
powered automobiles led to the birth of Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903. Ford's
entrepreneurial mind would not only lead to the production of reliable and affordable
automobiles but also ignite an industrial revolution that continued even after 1960. In 1878 while
aged 15, he was the first person to build the steam engine. Henry Ford was innovative and
curious, persevering on his innovations and tests to make his ideas acceptable as part of everyday
living ( Mahiela, 2015). He integrated all the qualities of an entrepreneur and innovator to go
down in history as one of the most influential American history entrepreneurs.
Conclusion
After initial drawbacks in the post-war decades, business activity and entrepreneurship in
U.S.A. took an upward turn in the years before 1960. The colonial times ignited business ideas
exploited by individuals willing to take risks to satisfy market needs in various parts of the
country. Entrepreneurship activity is the foundation on which the nation was founded, with the
numbers of the economic gaps increasing between the 18th and 20th centuries. The most
prominent entrepreneurs before 1960 were Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and John D.
Rockefeller.
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Bibliography
Bolanos, Jose. “Energy, uncertainty, and entrepreneurship: John D. Rockefeller’s Sequential
Approach to Transaction Costs Management in the Early Oil Industry.” Energy Research
and Social Science, 55 (2019): 26-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.04.020
Gordon John. “Entrepreneurship in American History” Imprimis 43 no 2(2015): 1-7,
https://imprimisarchives.hillsdale.edu/file/2014_02_Imprimis.pdf
Harvey, Charles, Maclean, Mairi, ad Gordon, Jillian. “Andrew Carnegie and the foundations of
contemporary entrepreneurial philanthropy.” Business History. 53, no. 3(June 2011): 1-
42.
https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1080%2F000767
91.2011.565516
Mahila, Ghicajaniu. “Innovation and Antreneurial Creativity Business during Henry Ford.”
Annals of the Constantin Brâncuşi University of Târgu Jiu, Economy Series. 1, no.
11(2015): 84-88. http://www.utgjiu.ro/revista/ec/pdf/2015-
01.Volumul%202/13_Ghicajanu.pdf
Price, Robert. 2015. “What is the History of Entrepreneurship in America?” Global
Entrepreneurship Institute. November 9, 2015. https://news.gcase.org/2015/11/09/what-
is-the-history-of-entrepreneurship-in-america/
