Peter C. Mancall

Exports and the economy of the Lower South region, 1720–1770

Scholars have long emphasized that the Lower South was one of the most economically successful regions of British North America. The region had the highest levels of private wealth per capita in the colonies by 1774, and it has been argued that income per capita rose rapidly due to the rapid growth of rice exports. Here we present new and more comprehensive estimates of the regions exports, which reveal a different result. While exports grew rapidly, they grew slower than rice and indigo alone, and slower than population. Here we explain why the extensive growth of exports and population did not lead to rapid growth of income per capita.

Exports from the Colonies and States of the Middle Atlantic Region 1720–1800

Exports are both an important component of overall economic performance and an indicator of broader trends in economic growth for the early American economy. In this article we describe a new set of estimates of the volume of overseas exports originating in the colonies and states of the Middle Atlantic region from 1720 to 1800. Measured in constant prices, export volumes grew rapidly in this period, but were unable to outpace the rapid growth of population and the labor force. Despite significant short-run fluctuations, per capita export values displayed no trend. At the same time, regional terms of trade improved considerably, increasing the foreign exchange earnings produced for any real export quantity.

Bringing the World to Early Modern Europe

This volume of five essays and a critical introduction present recent interpretations of travelers and their narratives in the early modern world, with particular attention to the relationship between the act of travel and descriptions of it.

Deadly Medicine: Indians and Alcohol in Early America.

The theme of problematic native American alcohol consumption receives much attention by social scientists, clinicians and politicians. Alcohol is widely held to be the ‘Indian’s curse’, whose biological susceptibility, enduring social upheaval, marginalisation and economic deprivation are variously identified as creating a predisposition to alcohol-related disorders. These theories of causation have however not been conclusively supported by research findings. Nevertheless, the image of the drunken and destitute Indian is perpetuated as a cultural stereotype and—it may be said—feeds enduring popular prejudices towards native Americans to the point of informing Indian identity. The majority of tribal councils support the prohibition of alcohol on reservations and numerous public and Indian health service resources are dedicated to the prevention and treatment of alcohol misuse. That the interpretation of Indian drinking remains a contentious and fertile subject for academic inquiry is borne out by Peter Mancall’s Deadly Medicine and Marin Trenk’s Die Milch des weissen Mannes (The White Man’s Milk), whose books, though consulting similar historical sources, offer very different perspectives and conclusions on this theme. Mancall’s title Deadly Medicine is derived from an address by the Delaware Prophet, a supporter of Indian temperance in the 1730s, who is quoted calling for the renunciation of customs adopted since the arrival of white colonists: ‘. . . you are to return to that former happy state, in which we lived in peace and plenty, before these strangers came to disturb us, and above all, you must abstain from drinking