Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: A Study in International Trade and Economic Development

by Joseph E. Inikori

• ISBN13: 9780521010795
• ISBN10: 0521010799
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-10
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Drawing on classical development theory and recent theoretical advances on the connection between expanding markets and technological developments, this book shows the critical role of expanding Atlantic commerce in the successful completion of England's industrialization process over the period 1650-1850. The contribution of Africans, the central focus of the book, is measured in terms of the role of diasporic Africans in large-scale commodity production in the Americas - of which expanding Atlantic commerce was a function - at a time when demographic and other socioeconomic conditions in the Atlantic basin encouraged small-scale production by independent populations, largely for subsistence. This is the first detailed study of the role of overseas trade in the Industrial Revolution. It revises inward-looking explanations that have dominated the field in recent decades, and shifts the assessment of African contribution away from the debate on profits.

Author Biography

Joseph E. Inikori is Professor of History at the University of Rochester. He was educated in Nigeria and England, and he was formerly Chairman of the History Department at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	x
Preface	xv
Introduction	1	(18)
The English Economy in the Longue Duree	19	(70)
A Historiography of the First Industrial Revolution	89	(67)
Slave-Based Commodity Production and the Growth of Atlantic Commerce	156	(59)
Britain and the Supply of African Slave Labor to the Americas	215	(50)
The Atlantic Slave Economy and English Shipping	265	(49)
The Atlantic Slave Economy and the Development of Financial Institutions	314	(48)
African-Produced Raw Materials and Industrial Production in England	362	(43)
Atlantic Markets and the Development of the Major Manufacturing Sectors in England's Industrialization	405	(68)
Conclusion	473	(14)
Appendixes	487	(38)
4.1 Average Annual Estimates of Bullion Import into Europe from the Americas, 1501-1800	487	(1)
4.2 Brazilian Sugar Export, 1536-1822 (£000 sterling)	488	(1)
4.3 Average Annual Value and Commodity Composition of Exports from British America to Britain	489	(1)
5.1 Mean Slave Loading by Ships Cleared out to Africa from Ports in England	490	(1)
5.2 Vessels Reported Lost but not Found on the Lists of Vessels Cleared out to Africa from Ports in England, 1796-1805	491	(2)
6.1 Routes of Vessels Insured to Africa by William Braund, 1759-1772	493	(2)
6.2 Guineamen Identified in Liverpool (Prime) Registries 1786, 1787, 1788	495	(12)
7.1 Transcripts from the Balance Books of Arthur Heywood, Sons & Co., of Liverpool, Showing the Structure of the Bank's Assets and Liabilities, 1787-1790 and 1805-1807	507	(3)
7.2 Insurance Premiums Paid on African Ventures	510	(2)
9.1 Shares of English and Foreign Products in Manufactures Exported from England to Western Africa, 1658-1856	512	(2)
9.2 Shares of English and Foreign Products in Manufactures Exported from England to the Americas, 1701-1856	514	(1)
9.3 Shares of English and Foreign Products in Manufactures Exported from England to Southern Europe, 1699-1856	514	(1)
9.4 Commodity Composition of Foreign Products Exported from England to Western Africa, 1658-1693 (in percentages)	515	(1)
9.5 Commodity Composition of Foreign Products Exported from England to Western Africa, 1699-1856 (in percentages)	516	(1)
9.6 Commodity Composition of Foreign Products Exported from England to the Americas, 1699-1856 (in percentages)	517	(1)
9.7 Commodity Composition of Foreign Products Exported from England to Southern Europe, 1699-1856 (in percentages)	517	(1)
9.8 Commodity Composition of British Products Exported from England to Western Africa, 1658-1693 (in percentages)	518	(1)
9.9 Commodity Composition of British Products Exported from England to Western Africa, 1699-1856 (in percentages)	519	(1)
9.10 Commodity Composition of British Products Exported from England to the Americas, 1699-1856 (in percentages)	520	(1)
9.11 Commodity Composition of British Products Exported from England to the West Indies, 1783-1856 (in £000)	521	(1)
9.12 Commodity Composition of British Products Exported from England to Southern Europe, 1699-1856 (in £000)	522	(1)
9.13 Shares of Portugal and Spain in Total Exports (Domestic and Re-exports) from England to Southern Europe, 1701-1800	523	(2)
Bibliography	525	(26)
Index	551