The british theory of mercantilism by which the colonies were governed held that

What was the most important document published in 1776? The Declaration of Independence is the easy answer for Americans, but many would argue that Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" had a bigger and more global impact.

On March 9, 1776, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (commonly referred to as simply "The Wealth of Nations") was first published. Smith, a Scottish philosopher by trade, wrote the book to upend the mercantilist system. Mercantilism held that wealth was fixed and finite and that the only way to prosper was to hoard gold and tariff products from abroad. According to this theory, this meant nations should sell their goods to other countries while buying nothing in return. Predictably, countries fell into rounds of retaliatory tariffs that choked off international trade. (For related reading, see: The Basics Of Tariffs And Trade Barriers.)

The core of Smith's thesis was that humans' natural tendency toward self-interest (or in modern terms, looking out for yourself) results in prosperity. Smith argued that by giving everyone freedom to produce and exchange goods as they pleased (free trade) and opening the markets up to domestic and foreign competition, people's natural self-interest would promote greater prosperity than with stringent government regulations. Smith believed humans ultimately promote public interest through their everyday economic choices. “He (or she) generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention,” states Smith in “An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations” (1776). This free-market force became known as the invisible hand, but it needed support to bring about its magic.

The automatic pricing and distribution mechanisms in the economy—which Adam Smith called an "invisible hand"—interacts directly and indirectly with centralized, top-down planning authorities. However, there are some meaningful conceptual fallacies in an argument that is framed as the invisible hand versus the government.

The invisible hand is not actually a distinguishable entity. Instead, it is the sum of many phenomena that occur when consumers and producers engage in commerce. Smith's insight into the idea of the invisible hand was one of the most important in the history of economics and remains one of the chief justifications for free market ideologies. The invisible hand theorem (at least in its modern interpretations) suggests that the means of production and distribution should be privately owned, and that if trade occurs unfettered by regulation, in turn, society will flourish organically. These arguments are naturally competitive with the concept and function of government.

The government is not serendipitous; it is prescriptive and intentional. Politicians, regulators and those who exercise legal force (such as the courts, police, and military) pursue defined goals through coercion. However, in contrast, macroeconomic forces—supply and demand, buying and selling, profit and loss occur voluntarily until government policy inhibits or overrides them. In this sense, it is more accurate to suggest that government affects the invisible hand, not the other way around.

- "the civil rights movements"

- "following the american civil war and abolition of slavery, the united states entered a period known as reconstruction, during which black americans continued to suffer from disenfranchisement, racial segregation, and economic oppression. beginning in the early 1950's, black americans launched a series of major campaigns of civil resistance, emphasizing the need for nonviolent protests and civil disobedience."

"such as the montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56, a campaign launched by rosa parks against the policy of racial segregation of the public transit system in alabama. “sit-ins” became popular across the american south, particularly in greensboro, north carolina, increase national sentiment."

- "the counterculture movement"

- "counterculture began to develop in the united states following the rise of conformity in american culture during the 1950s. by 1963, youth, particularly those of the white middle class, began rejecting the cultural standards and normality of their parents, opting for progressive attitudes instead. the movement gained momentum as the civil rights movement became increasingly successful and as the u.s. military intervention of vietnam began to take a negative turn."

"hippie counterculture moved further into popular culture following the summer of love in 1967 when thousands of people came together in the haight-ashbury neighborhood of san francisco. along with greenwich village in new york city, haight-ashbury became a hub for the counterculture movement."