The Politics of Trade: The Overseas Merchant in State and Society, 1660-1720This book examines the political and social impact of the English overseas merchant during this key era of state development. Historians have increasingly recognized the significance of this period as one of commercial and political transition, but relatively little thought has been given to the perspective of the overseas traders, whose activities transended these dynamic arenas. Analsis of the role of merchants in public life highlights their important contribution to England's rise as a commercial power of the first rank, and illuminates the fundamerntal political changes of the time. Case-studies of London, Liverpool, and York reveal the intricate workings of mercantile politics, while studies of the press and Parliament illustrate the increasing prominence of the trader on the national stage. The author's pioneering approach shows how crucial the political accomodation which the merchant class secured with the landed gentry was to the country's success in the eighteenth century. |
Other editions - View all
The Politics of Trade: The Overseas Merchant in State and Society, 1660-1720 Perry Gauci No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
activity analysis appears assessment associations Augustan period Britain British Cambridge campaign career Charles Davenant City civic commerce bill commerce treaty commercial issues concerning constituency contemporary corporation D.Phil Davenant debate Defoe demonstrated discussion Dutch early modern East India Company Eastland Eastland Company economic eighteenth century election electoral elite England English ensured evidence freemen French commerce gentry groups Hanoverian highlighted historians History Horwitz Hudson's Bay Company identified impact importance influence interest Lancashire late Stuart legislation Levant Company Liverpool livery companies lobby London Record Members ment mercantile politics Mercator Merchant Adventurers mercial ministry overseas traders Oxford parish Parliament parliamentary particular patriotic petitions political poll tax port provincial records relationship remained residence rivals role Royal African Company sample seventeenth century significant Significantly social status success suggest thesis Tory town town's unregulated urban wealth Westminster Whig York