Toward a political history of economic life -- Section I: The age of revolution, 1780's-1820's -- Imperial reconstitution and the limits of political property -- The quest for equipoise in the shadow of revolution -- From revolution to civil war -- Section II: The age of "anarchy," 1820's-1850's -- Rosas Agonistes, or the political economy of cronyism -- Chains of obligation: the duress of merchant law -- Reconsidering the Republic -- Section III: The age of order, 1850's-1860's -- Constitutional persuasions -- The new property of merchant capital -- Making money: the battle for monetary authority -- The unfinished revolution of the Republic of capital