A Deus ex Machina Revisited: Atlantic Colonial Trade and European Economic Development

The effects of the expansion of Europe have fascinated historians and economists, as well as the public at large, for centuries. One of the most intriguing and controversial effects of Europe's expansion has been the trade that resulted from this movement out of Europe and into other regions of the world. The role of foreign trade in Europe's economic growth—and especially in its industrialization—has long been hotly contested. This volume has as its point of departure the idea that the link between colonial trade and the development of Europe was much more complex than hitherto believed. Because this link is so complex, this volume contains essays by various specialists to assess the new directions in the historiography. Moreover, this volume examines the debate on the impact of colonial trade on countries such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, which are usually ignored in favor of discussion about Britain. Contributors include: D.H. Andersen, G. Le Bouëdec, M. Bustos Rodríguez, F. Crouzet, G. Daudin, P.C. Emmer, B. Etemad, M. Morineau, L. Müller, P. O’Brien, O. Pétré-Grenouilleau, H. Pietschmann, P. Pourchasse, J.V. Roitman, P. Verley, and N. Wiecker.

Table of Contents:
Notes on Contributors Introduction: Colonial Trade and the European Economy, P.C. Emmer, O. Pétré-Grenouilleau & J.V. Roitman PART I. GLOBAL APPROACHES Colonial Trade: A Trump Among Others 1. A Critical Review of a Tradition of Meta-Narratives from Adam Smith to Karl Pomeranz, P. O’Brien 2. Trumps, No Trumps, a Handful of Trumps: A New Dealing of Cards, M. Morineau From Quantitative to Dynamic Approaches? 3. Colonial and European Domestic Trade: A Statistical Perspective Over Time, B. Etemad 4. From One International Trade to Another: Changes in European Trade in the Nineteenth Century, P. Verley 5. Intra-European Coastal Shipping from 1400 to 1900: A Forgotten Sector of Development, G. Le Bouëdec PART II. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL APPROACHES The First Players in the Colonial Adventure: Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands 6. Colonial Trade and Development: The Spanish Case in the Eighteenth Century, M. Bustos Rodríguez 7. Portugal’s Overseas Trade During the Eighteenth Century: A Historiographical Survey, H. Pietschmann & N. Wiecker 8. The Dutch and the Atlantic Challenge, 1600–1800, P. C. Emmer The Big Two: France and the United Kingdom 9. Britain’s Exports and Their Markets, 1701–1913, F. Crouzet 10. Do Frontiers Give or do Frontiers Take? The Case of Intercontinental Trade in France at the End of the Eighteenth Century, G. Daudin 11. Colonial Trade and Economic Development in France, Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries, O. Pétré-Grenouilleau The Baltic Region or the Curious Virtues of the So-Called Unequal Exchange 12. The North: A Stake in the European Economy, P. Pourchasse 13. Denmark-Norway, Africa, and the Caribbean, 1660–1917: Modernisation Financed by Slaves and Sugar?, D. H. Andersen 14. Great Power Constraints and the Growth of the Commercial Sector: The Case of Sweden, 1600–1800, L. Müller Index