IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ajecsc/v79y2020i1p115-138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

American Commerce, American Empire: Late 19th‐Century Merchant Organizations and Trade Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Cory Davis

Abstract

The American debate over free trade and protectionism has taken many forms, but it is particularly instructive when it occurs within a single sector of the economy, pitting allied economic interests against each other. That occurred in the shipping industry in the 19th century when shippers and shipbuilders fought each other over trade‐related questions: subsidies for shipbuilding and reciprocal trade agreements with foreign nations. Shipbuilders wanted protection and subsidies; shippers wanted the freedom to make use of cheaper foreign vessels for trade and to develop trade agreements. We show how these opposing forces stymied each other and prevented the shipping industry from taking an active, unified role in national politics. These particular intra‐industry debates reveal broader divisions within the business community over the relationship between business and government under modern commercial capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Cory Davis, 2020. "American Commerce, American Empire: Late 19th‐Century Merchant Organizations and Trade Policy," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(1), pages 115-138, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:79:y:2020:i:1:p:115-138
    DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12309
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12309
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajes.12309?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Officer, Lawrence H. & Smith, Lawrence B., 1968. "The Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty of 1855 to 1866," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(4), pages 598-623, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Donald G. Paterson & Ronald A. Shearer, 2003. "A history of prices in Canada, 1840–1871: a new wholesale price index," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 224-253, March.
    2. Gregory P. Marchildon, 1995. "From Pax Britannica to Pax Americana and Beyond," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 538(1), pages 151-168, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:79:y:2020:i:1:p:115-138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0002-9246 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.