Overseas Trade and Traders: Essays on Some Commercial, Financial and Political Challenges Facing British Atlantic Merchants, 1600-1775 (Collected Studies Series, 554)

In the century preceding the American Revolution, foreign (including colonial) trade was the most rapidly growing sector of the British economoy. The essays in this volume are concerned with different aspects of the life and activities of the merchants responsible for this expansion. The general pattern of trade growth and its impact on the British economy is covered, whilst other essays focus on the internal operation of the merchant firm and the vital importance therein of the bill of exchange. Also examined are the Quaker houses responsible for the founding of major banks and the political success of English North American merchants in defending their trades against the Scots competition and Walpole's excise scheme.