Dangerous Economies: Status and Commerce in Imperial New York

TitleDangerous Economies: Status and Commerce in Imperial New York
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsZabin, Serena R.
Number of Pages205
PublisherUniversity of Pennsylvania Press
CityPhiladelphia
Abstract

Before the American Revolution, the people who lived in British North America were not just colonists; they were also imperial subjects. To think of 18th-century New Yorkers as Britons rather than incipient Americans allows us fresh investigations into their world. How was the British Empire experienced by those who lived at its margins? How did the mundane affairs of ordinary New Yorkers affect the culture at the center of an enormous commercial empire? This volume is a history of New York culture and commerce in the first two thirds of the 18th century, when Britain was just beginning to catch up with its imperial rivals, France and Spain. In that sparsely populated city on the fringe of an empire, enslaved Africans rubbed elbows with white indentured servants while the elite strove to maintain ties with European genteel culture. The transience of the city's people, goods, and fortunes created a notably fluid society in which establishing one's own status or verifying another's was a challenge. New York's shifting imperial identity created new avenues for success but also made success harder to define and demonstrate socially. 

URLhttps://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14630.html
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794702280

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