Nuala Zahedieh

Regulation, Rent-Seeking, and the Glorious Revolution in the English Atlantic Economy

The rapid rise of Englands colonial commerce in the late seventeenth century expanded the nations resource base, stimulated efficiency improvements across the economy, and was important for long-term growth. However, close examination of the interests at play in Englands Atlantic world does not support the Whiggish view that the Glorious Revolution played a benign role in this story. In the decades after the Restoration, the cases of the Royal African Company and the Spanish slave trade in Jamaica are used to show that the competition between Crown and Parliament for control of regulation constrained interest groups on either side in their efforts to capture the profits of empire. Stuart ‘tyranny’ was not able to damage growth and relatively competitive (and peaceful) conditions underpinned very rapid increases in colonial output and trade. The resolution of the rules of the Atlantic game in 1689 allowed a consolidated state better to manipulate and manage the imperial economy in its own interests. More secure rent-seeking enterprises and expensive wars damaged growth and European rivals began a process of catch-up. The Glorious Revolution was not sufficient to permanently halt economic development but it was sufficient to slow progress towards industrial revolution.

Colonies, copper, and the market for inventive activity in England and Wales, 1680–1730

Between 1680 and 1730 the English and Welsh copper industry rose from the dead and by the mid‐eighteenth century it had become Europes leading copper producer. The revival followed the extension of sugar cultivation in Englands colonies and the creation of a strong new demand for copper, which was reflected in rising exports and rising prices. Buoyant demand created a favourable market for the inventive activity needed to cut costs in the native industry, which encouraged investment in a systematic programme of research and development and culminated in important breakthroughs in smelting and mining technologies which transformed the non‐ferrous metal industries. The story provides an insight into how the economic context shaped the way useful knowledge was produced and consumed. Colonial expansion not only provided England with additional resources overseas but also encouraged the reallocation of human and financial capital to make better use of slack resources at home. Empire and technical change intersected with positive consequences for economic growth.

Commerce and Conflict: Jamaica and the War of the Spanish Succession

In the mercantilist world of the long eighteenth century the state was expected to use its resources, including its military strength, in the struggle for economic supremacy in Europe. In Richard Pares’s words, ‘the navy was a branch of business’.1 Powerful groups such as the Jamaica lobby repeatedly sought to solve economic problems with military action, and they frequently got their way. There has been surprisingly little systematic effort to assess the real economic gains of this undoubtedly economic war, but most historians have felt that, in general terms, the policy paid off.2 According to Curtis Nettels, the Peace [of Utrecht] brought the advantages for which England had gone to war. Both the Dutch and the French had been crowded out of the favoured position in Spanish colonial trade… by the end of the war, markets so long closed or partially closed had been forced open.3

Perry of London: A Family and a Firm on the Seaborne Frontier, 1615-1753.

Preface Note on Names Introduction PART 1: THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF PERRY, 1615-1721 1. The Early Perrys and Their Wanderings 2. The Emergence of Perry & Lane 3. The Business of the Perry Firm 4. The Public Role of Micaiah Perry I PART 2: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF PERRY, 1721-1753 5. The Challenge of the Third Generation 6. The Perils of Politics 7. The Family after the Fall Conclusion: Choosing a Frame for the Picture Abbreviations Appendix A: Draft Service Agreement Appendix B: Goods Exported by Perry, Lane & Co. to Virginia and Maryland Appendix C: The Hutchinson Connection Appendix D: The Early Perys and Perrys: Some Problems Selected Bibliography Notes Index