The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700The history of capitalism is not to be explained in mere economic terms. David Harris Sacks here demonstrates that the modern Western economy was ushered in by broad processes of social, political, and cultural change. His study of Bristol as it opened it gate to national politics and the Atlantic economy reveals capitalism to be not just a species of economic order but a distinct form of life, governed by its own ethical norms and cultural practices. Availing himself of the methods of "thick description," socio-economic analysis, and political theory, Sacks examines the dynamics by which early modern Bristol moved from a medieval commercial economy to an early capitalist one. Throughout the period, the life of the city depended heavily on the successes of its great overseas merchants. But their quest for a monopoly of trade with the outside world, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Levant, came into conflict with the concerns of Bristol's artisans and retail shopkeepers. The battles of the two factions conditioned social and cultural developments in Bristol for two centuries. Locally, the conflict set the terms for developing conceptions of justice and authority. On a larger scale, it drew the community firmly into the great affairs of the realm and the wider world of expanding markets beyond. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1992. The history of capitalism is not to be explained in mere economic terms. David Harris Sacks here demonstrates that the modern Western economy was ushered in by broad processes of social, political, and cultural change. His study of Bristol as it opened i |
From inside the book
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Page xvi
... town in the west of England whose traders long had looked to the Atlantic for their livelihoods . As such , it centers the story of this great transformation far from the financial , commer- cial , and manufacturing capitals of Europe ...
... town in the west of England whose traders long had looked to the Atlantic for their livelihoods . As such , it centers the story of this great transformation far from the financial , commer- cial , and manufacturing capitals of Europe ...
Page 4
... town was not a closed arena which drew in upon itself and made of the connections and rivalries of its inhabit- ants the sole source of local life , but an open gate in which the larger world penetrated into the community and helped ...
... town was not a closed arena which drew in upon itself and made of the connections and rivalries of its inhabit- ants the sole source of local life , but an open gate in which the larger world penetrated into the community and helped ...
Page 5
... town's autonomy consisted in its freedom to arm its own soldiers and defend its own territory ; elect its own rulers and officials ; draw up its own constitutions and ordinances ; assess , levy , and raise its own taxes ; settle its own ...
... town's autonomy consisted in its freedom to arm its own soldiers and defend its own territory ; elect its own rulers and officials ; draw up its own constitutions and ordinances ; assess , levy , and raise its own taxes ; settle its own ...
Page 6
... towns and rural districts lack " the old degree of social cohesion " that characterized communities of the past.12 Finberg also suggests some reasons for this change . " A rail- wayman or a mill - owner today , " he says , pretty ...
... towns and rural districts lack " the old degree of social cohesion " that characterized communities of the past.12 Finberg also suggests some reasons for this change . " A rail- wayman or a mill - owner today , " he says , pretty ...
Page 8
... towns . This model , however , offers a dual vision of urban life . For within its boundaries a city may be said to have a community of its own , existing for the fellowship and mutual aid and affection that citizens give to one another ...
... towns . This model , however , offers a dual vision of urban life . For within its boundaries a city may be said to have a community of its own , existing for the fellowship and mutual aid and affection that citizens give to one another ...
Contents
19 | |
54 | |
Organizing the Society | 85 |
In a Worshipful State 14501650 | 129 |
The Navel of the World | 131 |
The Sanctification of Power | 160 |
Little Businesses | 194 |
Looking Backward | 225 |
A Shoemakers Holiday | 251 |
Registering the Pilgrimage | 278 |
The Spirit World | 304 |
The Widening Gate of Capitalism | 331 |
Abbreviations | 363 |
Notes | 365 |
Index | 453 |
The Capitalism of the Spirit 16501700 | 249 |
Other editions - View all
The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700 David Harris Sacks Limited preview - 1991 |
The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700 David Harris Sacks Limited preview - 1991 |
The Widening Gate: Bristol and the Atlantic Economy, 1450-1700 David Harris Sacks Limited preview - 2023 |
Common terms and phrases
aldermen Aldworth American Andalusia Apprentice Book apprenticed apprentices authority Barbados Bishop Book Bristol Common Bristol Record Bristol's trade Bristolians Cambridge Carus-Wilson chant chap Church city's civic cloth colonial commerce Common Council Proceedings common councillors Company crafts customs dissenters E. A. Wrigley early modern early seventeenth century economic Edgeworth election England English exports fifteenth Gascony gild haue History Iberian peninsula Ibid important indentures industries J. G. A. Pocock James John John Whitson king Latimer leading entrepreneurs letters patent Lollards London mayor McGrath membership Merchant Venturers nomic occupations ordinances overseas trade Oxford Parliament percent period port profit Quakers religious retailers Ricart Robert Sacks sectaries servants ships shopkeepers sixteenth century Smythe soapmakers social Society and Politics Society of Merchant Spanish sugar Thomas tion tobacco total known town University Press urban wares weavers Whitson William wine woad