“American Letters” – Imre Széchenyi’s 1881 Trip to America

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
In 1881, Imre Széchenyi, together with four young Austrian and Hungarian aristocrats, and accompanied by a German economist/politician/journalist, visited the US. This was a study trip; the group was to study the agriculture and government administration in the US. Imre Széchenyi spent about eight months in the US, from March to October 1881, and his travels took him throughout the country. He published a book about his experiences, Somogyvári I. “Amerikai levelek” egy hosszabb zárszóval (Somogyvár I., American Letters with a Longer Postscript). The book has three parts; the first includes the letters that he sent to Hungarian newspapers while in the USA, the second, a briefer part of the book, is a collection of his drawings and explanations of the workings of new American agricultural machinery. The third section, his postscript, enumerates the European and American advantages in agriculture, and offers solutions for changes to be made in order that Hungarian agriculture could increase its competitiveness. This paper will evaluate the solutions proposed.


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