Hemlock Democracy: Nature and Capitalism in the Leather Industry, 1812 – 1911

Nickolas Perrone
History
UC Davis

My project draws on a growing body of commodity histories that attempt to explore the development of modern capitalism through a particular commodity. Leather was one of the primary components of economic life in the nineteenth century, and ubiquitous in society. My project traces the production methods and innovations, along with finance methods through the 1850s. The expansion of the industry also intensively exploited the forests of the northeastern U.S., as bark from hemlock trees was a primary tanning agent. As the industry lurched into the twentieth century the potential for profits drew investors while finite resources made for spectacular failures of companies and the towns that enabled their initial success. Complex financial instruments enabled expansion, while overproduction undercut profits and ensured failure and destruction.