Article ID: CBB914873921

Eric Williams and William Forbes: copper, colonial markets, and commercial capitalism (2021)

unapi

Eric Williams placed the Caribbean centre stage in discussions of Britain's industrial revolution and historians are increasingly persuaded by his intuition that the Atlantic trading system, underpinned by enslaved labour, played a major role. Early critics focused discussion on the profits of the slave trade but his thesis was broader, and more sophisticated, than they acknowledged. It left room for linkages of many kinds and it is now time to take a broader look at the connections between the rise of merchant capitalism, in which slavery played a central role, and British economic growth. This study looks at one small, fast-growing industry, wrought copper, largely through the lens of William Forbes, a London smith. Quantitative data from output and trade records are combined with Forbes's business records to show how the demands of sugar cultivation, a particularly concentrated form of agro-industrial activity, stimulated the development of a supply network which chained thousands of workers in Cornwall, South Wales, Bristol, and London to enslaved labour in the fields and factories of the Caribbean. Market opportunities allowed Forbes to amass great wealth but also directed investment, innovation, and the accumulation of skills that shaped Britain's particular path to industrial revolution.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB914873921/

Similar Citations

Article John E. Crowley; (2016)
Sugar Machines: Picturing Industrialized Slavery (/isis/citation/CBB194086091/)

Book William J. Ashworth; (2017)
The Industrial Revolution: The State, Knowledge and Global Trade (/isis/citation/CBB499180177/)

Chapter Berg, Maxine; (2010)
The British Product Revolution of the Eighteenth Century (/isis/citation/CBB001035470/)

Book Chris Evans; Louise Miskell; (2020)
Swansea Copper: A Global History (/isis/citation/CBB336671042/)

Article Evans, Chris; Saunders, Olivia; (2015)
A World of Copper: Globalizing the Industrial Revolution, 1830--70 (/isis/citation/CBB001422656/)

Chapter Bruland, Kristine; (2010)
Reconceptualizing Industrialization in Scandinavia (/isis/citation/CBB001035474/)

Chapter Hanley, Anne G.; (2010)
Financing Brazil's Industrialization (/isis/citation/CBB001035479/)

Chapter Inkster, Ian; (2010)
Cultural Engineering and the Industrialization of Japan, circa 1886--1912 (/isis/citation/CBB001035481/)

Chapter Horn, Jeff; (2010)
Avoiding Revolution: The French Path to Industrialization (/isis/citation/CBB001035472/)

Chapter Mokyr, Joel; (2010)
The European Enlightenment and the Origins of Modern Economic Growth (/isis/citation/CBB001035471/)

Chapter Smith, Merritt Roe; Martello, Robert; (2010)
Taking Stock of the Industrial Revolution in America (/isis/citation/CBB001035476/)

Chapter Parthasarathi, Prasannan; (2010)
Trade and Industry in the Indian Subcontinent, 1750--1913 (/isis/citation/CBB001035480/)

Chapter Brose, Eric Dorn; (2010)
The Political Economy of Early Industrialization in German Europe (/isis/citation/CBB001035473/)

Chapter Gatrell, Peter; (2010)
Reconceptualizing Russia's Industrial Revolution (/isis/citation/CBB001035478/)

Chapter Horn, Jeff; Rosenband, Leonard N.; Smith, Merritt Roe; (2010)
Introduction to Reconceptualizing the Industrial Revolution (/isis/citation/CBB001035468/)

Article Parrish, Susan Scott; (2010)
Richard Ligon and the Atlantic Science of Commonwealths (/isis/citation/CBB001030562/)

Article Ortega, José Guadalupe; (2014)
Machines, Modernity, and Sugar: The Greater Caribbean in a Global Context, 1812--50 (/isis/citation/CBB001421520/)

Authors & Contributors
Smith, Merritt Roe
Rosenband, Leonard N.
Horn, Jeff
Evans, Chris
Smith, David Chan
John E. Crowley
Concepts
Industrial revolution
Economic history
Economic development
Development of technology; change in technology
History of technology, as a discipline
Sugar and sugar industry
Time Periods
19th century
17th century
18th century
Enlightenment
16th century
Places
Great Britain
Caribbean
Atlantic world
Atlantic Ocean
Barbados
Wales
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment