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Secondary sourceBook1834

Statement of Some New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy

John Rae · 1834

John Rae's 1834 book challenging the free-trade system and other doctrines in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.

A direct 1834 rebuttal to the free-trade principles Smith established in The Wealth of Nations.

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Statement of Some New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy
John Rae, Statement of Some New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy, Hilliard, Gray, and Co., 1834.

About this source

What it is

This is John Rae's 1834 book, published in Boston, which directly critiques the free-trade doctrines and other ideas presented in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations.

The original scanned text is preserved as a PDF through the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

This source is important because it represents an early and direct challenge to Smith's free-trade economics, showing that his ideas were contested almost immediately within decades of his death. It gives insight into the protectionist arguments that opposed Smith's free-market views.

Look closer

  • What kind of arguments might Rae use to challenge the 'fallacies' he claims exist in free trade?
  • Why might an American author in 1834 be interested in critiquing a British economist's theories?
  • How does the existence of this critique change your understanding of Smith's influence?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Adam Smith on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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