Absence of historical sedimentations, not natural wealth, drove American capital accumulation.

Evidence

America does not have “great historical and cultural traditions”; but neither does it have this leaden burden to support. This is one of the main reasons (and certainly more important than its so-called natural wealth) for its formidable accumulation of capital which has taken place in spite of the superior living standard enjoyed by the popular classes compared with Europe. The non-existence of viscous parasitic sedimentations left behind by past phases of history has allowed industry, and commerce in particular, to develop on a sound basis. It also allows a continual reduction of the economic function of transport and trade to the level of a genuinely subaltern activity of production. Indeed, it has led to the attempt to absorb these activities into productive activity itself. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1064

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gramsci’s claim that hegemony in America is born in the factory with minimal political intermediaries is a core concept worth keeping exactly as stated for the toolkit.