In this course, Dr. Hessen will demonstrate that the history of capitalism has been systematically distorted by Marxist and New Left historians––and he sets the record straight. Using examples ranging from the Industrial Revolution through the "Robber Baron" era and up to today, he challenges many of the leading misconceptions––for example, that free market institutions arose through state-created privileges; that legal rules and procedures have unfairly favored business and property owners at the expense of consumers and workers; that prosperity was achieved by exploiting immigrants, minorities, women and children; that predatory monopolies flourished before the antitrust laws were enacted; that businessmen were the initiators and beneficiaries of imperialism and foreign wars; and that big business dominates America's cultural and political system. This course will offer a valuable, fact-filled corrective to the errors and misconceptions which permeate today's textbooks.