MHS: Learning the Values of a Dollar: Childhood & Cultures of Economy, 1825-1900

Jaclyn Schultz, University of California at Santa Cruz

Nineteenth-century children rarely had access to money, even when they worked. Yet, several forms of authority instructed children in specific expectations of spending, saving, and giving. This talk explores how and why children were taught to interact with and value financial resources as well as how these lessons were racialized.