Overview

In 1780 Richard Sheridan noted that merchants worked ‘merely for money’. However, rather than being a criticism, this was recognition of the important commercial role that merchants played in the British empire at this time. Of course, merchants desired and often made profits, but they were strictly bound by commonly-understood socio-cultural norms which formed a private-order institution of a robust business culture. In order to elucidate this business culture, this book examines the themes of risk, trust, reputation, obligation, networks and crises to demonstrate how contemporary merchants perceived and dealt with one another and managed their businesses. Merchants were able to take risks and build trust, but concerns about reputation and fulfilling obligations constrained economic opportunism. By relating these themes to an array of primary sources from ports around the British-Atlantic world, this book provides a more nuanced understanding of business culture during this period. A theme which runs throughout the book is the mercantile community as a whole and its relationship with the state. This was an important element in the British business culture of this period, although this relationship came under stress towards the end of period, forming a crisis in itself. This book argues that the business culture of the British-Atlantic mercantile community not only facilitated the conduct of day-to-day business, but also helped it to cope with short-term crises and long-term changes. This facilitated the success of the British-Atlantic economy even within the context of changing geo-politics and an under-institutionalised environment. Not working ‘merely for money’ was a successful business model.

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9781781380109

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Reviews

A very well written, accessible work of largely original research which makes an important contribution to our understanding of Atlantic communities. -- Geoffrey Channon In a way, this book is a behavioral study of merchants trading across the Atlantic in the era of the American, French, and early industrial revolutions. As such, it is much less concerned with prices and profits, supply and demand, ships and ports, laws and government, than with hopes and fears, conventions and customs, friendships and networks. It explores the culture of business practice, not how merchants conspicuously consumed, engaged in philanthropy, or donated to the libraries and assembly rooms of the ports they worked from. The great strength of the book is the extent of primary research on which it rests and how that evidence is related to modern research into business practice from the fields of economics, business studies, and sociology. Throughout that relationship is developed thoughtfully and suggestively. Moreover, Haggerty also engages with a large body of secondary work by economic historians. Given such efforts, the many footnotes provide lead after lead to follow up on. This is a book to make one think, even if its conclusions are unsurprising. A key aspect of Haggerty's book is its geographical and chronological ambition. In practice, the British Atlantic is viewed from Liverpool primarily (though not exclusively) to the Caribbean and, more especially, North America. In Britain, Glasgow, Bristol, and London are given some consideration, Whitehaven none at all. Records of merchants in the Caribbean and North America are employed, trade with West Africa is mentioned in passing, but Ireland is completely ignored. Chronologically, the weight of the book lies from the mid-1760s to the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807. This was, to put it mildly, a challenging time to be a merchant in the British Atlantic and Haggerty's book is suggestive in helping us to understand how those challenges were met. To a considerable extent the book rests upon the correspondence of a number of merchants. Material from 30 archives in several countries is employed, as well as numerous printed primary sources. Yet weighty though this material is, it plays a supporting role in determining the book's approach and direction. The titles of the six substantive chapters in the book make clear Haggerty's focus: Risk, Trust, Reputation, Obligation, Networks, and Crises. Each of these chapters begins by carefully setting out recent and mainly theoretical work on these from beyond history: terms are defined with real care, previous assumptions critically considered, and telling questions nicely posed. This is a very valuable feature of the book. Those questions are then addressed in the body of the chapter by detailed exploration of the primary sources. Haggerty is notably skilled in identifying the apposite quote and showing how a jigsaw with many missing pieces can, nonetheless, be plausibly reconstructed. This is then a book, full of good things. But one its great sources of strength, the attention to the subtleties of business relationships to be found in letters, arguably makes it harder for more general arguments to be made. Haggerty's approach is mainly qualitative and illustrative, dipping in and out of particular sources with a focus upon individuals and their business connections. There is very little quantitative analysis, and only in the chapter on networks is her approach more systematic, and even then the presentation makes it hard to compare her case studies and little attention is paid to how representative they are. Take therefore Haggerty's statement near the end of the book that the United States continued to be Britain's largest single trading partner. This success was largely due to a business culture which facilitated trade despite long-term structural changes and short-term crises (p. 235) To write largely due is to make a big claim for the role of business culture which Haggerty has not attempted to support by systematically considering other possible explanations, such as terms of trade and the international division of labor. A further marked feature of the book is that six of the seven substantive chapters pay scant attention to balancing issues of continuity and change. Haggerty skillfully and deftly shows aspects of business culture, habits, and etiquette, but is less interested in showing how they did or did not change over time. Developments are not ignored, but just what was distinctive about business culture in this period needs more concerted consideration. This matters because a number of her key features might be supposed to have a timeless aspect to them - such as the role of trust or networks. Perhaps more weight might have been paid to the influence upon business culture of the evolution in the period of marine insurance, the emergence of chambers of commerce (on which Robert Bennett has done path-breaking work, including a detailed study of Liverpool), pre-war Anglo-American debts after 1783, the growth of the Lancashire cotton industry, and the Continental System. None of these are ignored, but they crop up only in passing and are only foregrounded near the end of the book in a discussion of crises. A lot of outstanding work has been published on the mercantile world of the British Atlantic in this period by the likes of Bernard Bailyn, Ralph Davis, Tom Devine, David Hancock, John McCusker, Kenneth Morgan, and Jacob Price. It is no mean achievement of Haggerty that she has made a distinctive contribution to such a rich field of research. EH.Net Building on her earlier monograph examining the communities and people involved in British-Atlantic trade in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Sheryllynne Haggerty's new volume draws explicitly on socio-economic theory, offering an interdisciplinary approach to her broader topic of business culture in this region. Haggerty successfully - and innovatively - combines empiricism and theory, and, in her own words, 'using these theories explicitly has facilitated an engagement with primary sources in a new way' (p. 7). 'Merely for Money'? is organised into sets of linked chapters. First, an introductory chapter introduces the ports, commodities and people that are used throughout the book as a mechanism for exploring socio-economic theory - providing 'the context for business culture' (p. 7). The following three sets of chapters explore Risk and Trust, Reputation and Obligation, and Networks and Crises; the final set of chapters using case studies to exemplify how mercantile networks functioned in and adapted to changing conditions in specific times of crisis in this period. At first glance, the reader could be forgiven for assuming that the issues explored in this book are not new - much literature on trade and commerce has referred to both mercantile networks themselves, and the issues of risk, trust, reputation and obligation inherent in them. However, Haggerty's assertion that historians (as opposed to social scientists) have been reticent in defining these terms is well-founded (p. 162), and the uniqueness of this volume lies in the combination of an historical and social science approach. In addition to borrowing existing terminology from social science disciplines, on occasion Haggerty bravely supplies her own definitions - for example relating to business networks, which she defines as 'a group or groups of people that form associations with the explicit or implicit expectation of mutual long-term economic benefit' (p. 164). Such definitions are not without their problems. In this case, one might ask if economic benefit needed to be long-term, or if this was always expected. A one-off, opportunistic transaction between two merchants who never met again could still take place within a larger network, and thus frame the future of it; while individual merchants may on occasion have sought a one-off transaction. While such semantic criticisms are perhaps unavoidable, Haggerty should be commended for pioneering this approach. While largely theoretical in nature, the volume draws on an impressive primary source base, including mercantile letters and accounts, state papers, treasury and admiralty records, newspapers and trade directories sourced throughout Britain, Europe, and the Americas - all of which have been skilfully interwoven with the theoretical framework provided throughout the volume. Additionally, the book plays 'Devil's Advocate to the positive slant in the historiography on networks', analysing failure as well as success (p. 169). Haggerty has ignored the temptation to use only high profile merchants' records, instead focusing on smaller collections of less high profile merchants to 'facilitate the inclusion of as many merchants of varying degrees of prosperity as possible, rather than only the most successful' (p. 5). Further, in contrast to much previous scholarship, Haggerty acknowledges the negative as well as the positive, discussing ways in which networks hindered economic progress, and recognising that family ties were not necessarily beneficial (pp. 138, 162). The crux of the book is in the final set of linked chapters, which draw the theoretical themes together. In Chapter 6, 'Networks', Haggerty employs Pajek software to visually portray the Atlantic networks of three merchants at two different points in their careers. This approach is extremely enlightening, offering a new way for historians to approach networks of all kinds. More detailed discussion of how these diagrams were compiled or whether they are conclusive would be welcome - though one assumes, given the nature of the source material used, that evidence for some links no longer survives. Discussion of how 'strong' and 'weak' ties have been defined is helpful, as is the acknowledgement that networks are dynamic entities, making comparison of ties problematic (pp. 166-9). Although Haggerty's definition of a 'strong' tie as 'an emotionally-intensive tie as opposed to one based on frequency or financial value' (p. 174) seems contradictory in economic terms, historians can nevertheless learn much from this approach, and this methodology will be strengthened as it is adopted by other scholars and developed over time. What is disappointing and frustrating for the reader is that in an otherwise high quality publication, the rendering of these diagrams is comparatively poor. While presumably not the author's purview, this detracts from what is otherwise a particularly illuminating section of the book. 'Merely for Money'? is extremely thought-provoking, opening several avenues for future investigation. The book uses Liverpool as its 'axis' (p. 23) - a sensible approach given Liverpool's dominance of Atlantic trade in this period, as well as being the arena in which much of the author's own prior research lies. This approach, though, means that the 'British' element of the book is somewhat lost, despite some small sections discussing Irish and particularly Scottish participation in the British Atlantic (e.g. pp. 124, 173). Similarly, though the issue of triangular trade is touched upon (e.g. p. 172), future examination of this practice will add more to our understanding of business culture in the wider Atlantic region. The book's biggest contribution to the field is undoubtedly its interdisciplinarity. Haggerty successfully places qualitative research in a theoretical framework, demonstrating, quite rightly, that a socio-economic approach can add much to historical studies. This book will invigorate debate over the intricacies of trade throughout the British Atlantic and more widely, and the methodologies explored promise much for future generations of commercial historians. Business History 'Merely for Money'? is extremely thought-provoking, opening several avenues for future investigation. The book's biggest contribution to the field is undoubtedly its interdisciplinarity. Haggerty successfully places qualitative research in a theoretical framework, demonstrating, quite rightly, that a socio-economic approach can add much to historical studies. This book will invigorate debate over the intricacies of trade throughout the British Atlantic and more widely, and the methodologies explored promise much for future generations of commercial historians. Business History It is no mean achievement of Haggerty that she has made a distinctive contribution to such a rich field of research. -- Julian Hoppit EH Net

A very well written, accessible work of largely original research which makes an important contribution to our understanding of Atlantic communities. -- Professor Geoffrey Channon, Pro Vice-Chancellor In a way, this book is a behavioral study of merchants trading across the Atlantic in the era of the American, French, and early industrial revolutions. As such, it is much less concerned with prices and profits, supply and demand, ships and ports, laws and government, than with hopes and fears, conventions and customs, friendships and networks. It explores the culture of business practice, not how merchants conspicuously consumed, engaged in philanthropy, or donated to the libraries and assembly rooms of the ports they worked from. The great strength of the book is the extent of primary research on which it rests and how that evidence is related to modern research into business practice from the fields of economics, business studies, and sociology. Throughout that relationship is developed thoughtfully and suggestively. Moreover, Haggerty also engages with a large body of secondary work by economic historians. Given such efforts, the many footnotes provide lead after lead to follow up on. This is a book to make one think, even if its conclusions are unsurprising. A key aspect of Haggerty's book is its geographical and chronological ambition. In practice, the British Atlantic is viewed from Liverpool primarily (though not exclusively) to the Caribbean and, more especially, North America. In Britain, Glasgow, Bristol, and London are given some consideration, Whitehaven none at all. Records of merchants in the Caribbean and North America are employed, trade with West Africa is mentioned in passing, but Ireland is completely ignored. Chronologically, the weight of the book lies from the mid-1760s to the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807. This was, to put it mildly, a challenging time to be a merchant in the British Atlantic and Haggerty's book is suggestive in helping us to understand how those challenges were met. To a considerable extent the book rests upon the correspondence of a number of merchants. Material from 30 archives in several countries is employed, as well as numerous printed primary sources. Yet weighty though this material is, it plays a supporting role in determining the book's approach and direction. The titles of the six substantive chapters in the book make clear Haggerty's focus: Risk, Trust, Reputation, Obligation, Networks, and Crises. Each of these chapters begins by carefully setting out recent and mainly theoretical work on these from beyond history: terms are defined with real care, previous assumptions critically considered, and telling questions nicely posed. This is a very valuable feature of the book. Those questions are then addressed in the body of the chapter by detailed exploration of the primary sources. Haggerty is notably skilled in identifying the apposite quote and showing how a jigsaw with many missing pieces can, nonetheless, be plausibly reconstructed. This is then a book, full of good things. But one its great sources of strength, the attention to the subtleties of business relationships to be found in letters, arguably makes it harder for more general arguments to be made. Haggerty's approach is mainly qualitative and illustrative, dipping in and out of particular sources with a focus upon individuals and their business connections. There is very little quantitative analysis, and only in the chapter on networks is her approach more systematic, and even then the presentation makes it hard to compare her case studies and little attention is paid to how representative they are. Take therefore Haggerty's statement near the end of the book that the United States continued to be Britain's largest single trading partner. This success was largely due to a business culture which facilitated trade despite long-term structural changes and short-term crises (p. 235) To write largely due is to make a big claim for the role of business culture which Haggerty has not attempted to support by systematically considering other possible explanations, such as terms of trade and the international division of labor. A further marked feature of the book is that six of the seven substantive chapters pay scant attention to balancing issues of continuity and change. Haggerty skillfully and deftly shows aspects of business culture, habits, and etiquette, but is less interested in showing how they did or did not change over time. Developments are not ignored, but just what was distinctive about business culture in this period needs more concerted consideration. This matters because a number of her key features might be supposed to have a timeless aspect to them - such as the role of trust or networks. Perhaps more weight might have been paid to the influence upon business culture of the evolution in the period of marine insurance, the emergence of chambers of commerce (on which Robert Bennett has done path-breaking work, including a detailed study of Liverpool), pre-war Anglo-American debts after 1783, the growth of the Lancashire cotton industry, and the Continental System. None of these are ignored, but they crop up only in passing and are only foregrounded near the end of the book in a discussion of crises. A lot of outstanding work has been published on the mercantile world of the British Atlantic in this period by the likes of Bernard Bailyn, Ralph Davis, Tom Devine, David Hancock, John McCusker, Kenneth Morgan, and Jacob Price. It is no mean achievement of Haggerty that she has made a distinctive contribution to such a rich field of research. -- Julian Hoppit EH.Net 201301 Building on her earlier monograph examining the communities and people involved in British-Atlantic trade in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Sheryllynne Haggerty's new volume draws explicitly on socio-economic theory, offering an interdisciplinary approach to her broader topic of business culture in this region. Haggerty successfully - and innovatively - combines empiricism and theory, and, in her own words, 'using these theories explicitly has facilitated an engagement with primary sources in a new way' (p. 7). 'Merely for Money'? is organised into sets of linked chapters. First, an introductory chapter introduces the ports, commodities and people that are used throughout the book as a mechanism for exploring socio-economic theory - providing 'the context for business culture' (p. 7). The following three sets of chapters explore Risk and Trust, Reputation and Obligation, and Networks and Crises; the final set of chapters using case studies to exemplify how mercantile networks functioned in and adapted to changing conditions in specific times of crisis in this period. At first glance, the reader could be forgiven for assuming that the issues explored in this book are not new - much literature on trade and commerce has referred to both mercantile networks themselves, and the issues of risk, trust, reputation and obligation inherent in them. However, Haggerty's assertion that historians (as opposed to social scientists) have been reticent in defining these terms is well-founded (p. 162), and the uniqueness of this volume lies in the combination of an historical and social science approach. In addition to borrowing existing terminology from social science disciplines, on occasion Haggerty bravely supplies her own definitions - for example relating to business networks, which she defines as 'a group or groups of people that form associations with the explicit or implicit expectation of mutual long-term economic benefit' (p. 164). Such definitions are not without their problems. In this case, one might ask if economic benefit needed to be long-term, or if this was always expected. A one-off, opportunistic transaction between two merchants who never met again could still take place within a larger network, and thus frame the future of it; while individual merchants may on occasion have sought a one-off transaction. While such semantic criticisms are perhaps unavoidable, Haggerty should be commended for pioneering this approach. While largely theoretical in nature, the volume draws on an impressive primary source base, including mercantile letters and accounts, state papers, treasury and admiralty records, newspapers and trade directories sourced throughout Britain, Europe, and the Americas - all of which have been skilfully interwoven with the theoretical framework provided throughout the volume. Additionally, the book plays 'Devil's Advocate to the positive slant in the historiography on networks', analysing failure as well as success (p. 169). Haggerty has ignored the temptation to use only high profile merchants' records, instead focusing on smaller collections of less high profile merchants to 'facilitate the inclusion of as many merchants of varying degrees of prosperity as possible, rather than only the most successful' (p. 5). Further, in contrast to much previous scholarship, Haggerty acknowledges the negative as well as the positive, discussing ways in which networks hindered economic progress, and recognising that family ties were not necessarily beneficial (pp. 138, 162). The crux of the book is in the final set of linked chapters, which draw the theoretical themes together. In Chapter 6, 'Networks', Haggerty employs Pajek software to visually portray the Atlantic networks of three merchants at two different points in their careers. This approach is extremely enlightening, offering a new way for historians to approach networks of all kinds. More detailed discussion of how these diagrams were compiled or whether they are conclusive would be welcome - though one assumes, given the nature of the source material used, that evidence for some links no longer survives. Discussion of how 'strong' and 'weak' ties have been defined is helpful, as is the acknowledgement that networks are dynamic entities, making comparison of ties problematic (pp. 166-9). Although Haggerty's definition of a 'strong' tie as 'an emotionally-intensive tie as opposed to one based on frequency or financial value' (p. 174) seems contradictory in economic terms, historians can nevertheless learn much from this approach, and this methodology will be strengthened as it is adopted by other scholars and developed over time. What is disappointing and frustrating for the reader is that in an otherwise high quality publication, the rendering of these diagrams is comparatively poor. While presumably not the author's purview, this detracts from what is otherwise a particularly illuminating section of the book. 'Merely for Money'? is extremely thought-provoking, opening several avenues for future investigation. The book uses Liverpool as its 'axis' (p. 23) - a sensible approach given Liverpool's dominance of Atlantic trade in this period, as well as being the arena in which much of the author's own prior research lies. This approach, though, means that the 'British' element of the book is somewhat lost, despite some small sections discussing Irish and particularly Scottish participation in the British Atlantic (e.g. pp. 124, 173). Similarly, though the issue of triangular trade is touched upon (e.g. p. 172), future examination of this practice will add more to our understanding of business culture in the wider Atlantic region. The book's biggest contribution to the field is undoubtedly its interdisciplinarity. Haggerty successfully places qualitative research in a theoretical framework, demonstrating, quite rightly, that a socio-economic approach can add much to historical studies. This book will invigorate debate over the intricacies of trade throughout the British Atlantic and more widely, and the methodologies explored promise much for future generations of commercial historians. -- Siobhan Talbott Business History 2013 'Merely for Money'? is extremely thought-provoking, opening several avenues for future investigation. The book's biggest contribution to the field is undoubtedly its interdisciplinarity. Haggerty successfully places qualitative research in a theoretical framework, demonstrating, quite rightly, that a socio-economic approach can add much to historical studies. This book will invigorate debate over the intricacies of trade throughout the British Atlantic and more widely, and the methodologies explored promise much for future generations of commercial historians. Business History 2013 It is no mean achievement of Haggerty that she has made a distinctive contribution to such a rich field of research. -- Julian Hoppit EH Net 2013

Author Information

Sheryllynne Haggerty is Associate Professor in Early-Modern History, University of Nottingham.

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