Description
Book SynopsisHow did merchants deal with crises? From warfare to financial upheaval, from political machinations to the abolition of the slave trade, merchants and their networks in the eighteenth century faced a range of challenges. But they also demonstrated remarkable resilience. Providing new levels of detail on Britain’s sugar trade, this authoritative account explores how Bristol’s sugar merchants embodied cogs in the plantation machine, using their position of influence in Britain to maintain the production of sugar and violent systems of enslavement. It demonstrates how, as shipowners, these merchants protected their shipping, led the organisation of convoys, and took advantage of cheapening insurance. It reveals the inner workings of the sugar market and the strategies merchants used to remain profitable, showing how merchants navigated the transitions between peace and war. Finally, it uncovers their methods for managing credit and safeguarding their investments. Throughout, the nature of commerce in the eighteenth century is analysed in detail, from business networks to bills of exchange. Demonstrating meticulous, interdisciplinary research and thorough analysis of merchant business records, this book speaks broadly to the nature and experience of crisis in the eighteenth century and what this meant for the burgeoning systems of capitalism.
Table of ContentsFrontmatter
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
Sugar and Bristol in 1783
The structure of the book
Knowledge, Networks, and the Crisis of Sugar Production in the West Indies
New challenges
Networks of knowledge
Merchants and plantation labour
Issues with management
Food and scarcity in the islands
Slavery and the threat of abolition Merchants and the production process Conclusion
- Merchant-shipowners and the Crisis of Shipping in the Bristol–West India Trade
The challenges facing merchant-shipowners
The challenges of warfare
The convoy system
Convoys and the seasonality of shipping
Convoys and communications
Convoys and delays
Convoys and insurance
Conclusion
- Merchants, Brokers, and the Structure of the Bristol Sugar Market
The size and structure of Bristol’s sugar market
The volume and value of sugar imports into Bristol, 1784–1801
Bristol’s sugar importers
The separation of roles and confidence in the sugar market
The mechanisms of the sugar market
Demand
Supply
Bristol’s relationship with other markets
Conclusion
- Crisis, Disruption, and Uncertainty in Bristol’s Sugar Market
The return to peace and the threat of war
Bristol and the collapse of the European sugar economy
War in Europe and the West Indies
The crisis of overproduction in the West Indies
Conclusion
4.Creditors, Debtors, and Caution in Times of Crisis
The tools of the trade
The hazards of lending
Caution in times of crisis
The problems of debt recovery
An effective screening process
Conclusion
Conclusion
