Urbanization in the Colonial South
A Critique
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3595481 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hermann Wellenreuther (corresponding author), Fred Siegel, Joseph Albert Ernst, H Roy Merrens |
| Year | 1974 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 653 |
| Publication date | 1974-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The William and Mary Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0043-5597 • E-ISSN: 1933-7698 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1921609 |
| OpenAlex | W2325336055 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Joseph A. Ernst and H. Roy Merrens offer a new interpretation of the significance of urbanization in the southern colonies during the eighteenth century.' After reviewing and criticizing earlier historical interpretations, Ernst and Merrens advance the thesis the distributive function of urban centers played a major role in furthering diversification of the economy in the southern colonies. Unfortunately, the authors' conceptual approach seriously damages their case. Indeed, in their concluding remarks they seem to invalidate their major points altogether. Thus a closer look at their arguments is called for. I shall concentrate on three issues: the influence of infrastructure on urbanization; the relationship between urban centers and regions; and the problem of urbanization as an aspect of social and economic development. I want to show Ernst and Merrens oversimplify the problem of urbanization in the colonial South because they draw too many generalizations from just one example and in general adopt a monocausal explanation. The authors' definition of a town is preceded by a summary of views on the significance of urbanization in the colonial South. Earlier historians believed that urbanization in the southern colonies was of little consequence. They felt the conveniences of the wide network of waterways and, more generally, the economic consequences of the plantation system, which discouraged the development of an intercolonial and interregional exchange system for commodities, stood in the way of a town
Business · Colonialism · Damages · Development economics · Diversification (marketing strategy · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Function (biology · Geography · Interpretation (philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Urbanization · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Philosophy · Urban Studies
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,06 |
| Citation span | 1978 - 1995 (18) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |