Neither imperial, nor Atlantic

A merchant perspective on international trade in the eighteenth century

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11348705
AutoresPierre Gervais (0000-0002-3178-1693, a Centre d’Etudes Nord-Américaines - Mascipo UMR 8168, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales/Département d’histoire, Université Paris VIII Vincennes-Saint-Denis , France, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume34
Fascículo4
Páginas465-473
Data de publicação2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHistory of European Ideas (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0191-6599 • E-ISSN: 1873-541X
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/j.histeuroideas.2008.08.001
OpenAlexW1967641643
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas2

Merchant activity was a central element in the networks and webs of relationship over the Atlantic in the eighteenth century. When closely analyzed, however, daily merchant practice does not fit easily into regional categories, whether Atlantic or imperial. Merchant life was heavily dependent on the building of chains of trusted correspondents, who would both be able to guarantee adequate quality and satisfactory pricing upon acquisition or sale of the goods traded, and willing to extend credit in a trading world in which all operations included long time lags before final payment. For each trading center, the addition of such chains of correspondents constituted networks both supra-regional, covering the entire world, and sub-regional, specializing in some areas more than others according to prevalent political-imperial pressures. It is argued that the common element in all these networks, i.e. merchant development, is best identified as a worldwide, but Europe-dominated social process underpinning much of what is usually meant by “Atlantic” history

Atlantic World · Business · Commerce · Economics · Economy · Element (criminal law · Payment · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Quality (philosophy · Underpinning · Computer Science · Engineering · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law · Finance