Adam smith industrial revolution biography graphic organizer

(1723-1790)

Who Was Adam Smith?

Adam Smith was an economist and philosopher who wrote what is considered the "bible of capitalism," The Wealth of Nations, in which he details the first system of political economy.

Early Years

While his exact date of birth isn’t known, Smith’s baptism was recorded on June 5, 1723, in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.

He attended the Burgh School, where he studied Latin, mathematics, history and writing.

Adam smith industrial revolution biography graphic organizer

Smith entered the University of Glasgow when he was 14 and in 1740 went to Oxford.

Economics

'Wealth of Nations'

After toiling for nine years, in 1776, Smith published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (usually shortened to The Wealth of Nations), which is thought of as the first work dedicated to the study of political economy.

Economics of the time were dominated by the idea that a country’s wealth was best measured by its store of gold and silver. Smith proposed that a nation’s wealth should b