Merchants Of Blood And Gunpowder: The English Arms Trade In West Africa, Jaime K. Schneider

Honors Theses

The period between 1500 and 1650 saw the development of a transoceanic trade network, multiple European colonial empires in the Americas, and rapid developments in firearms technology. Combined, these factors laid the groundwork for two interrelated phenomena, the transatlantic slave trade, and the emergence of a global trade in arms. Examining the documents of the Royal African Company and assembling a broad selection of secondary sources, this paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate over the role of slavery in the development of modern capitalism. This paper argues that the transatlantic slave trade was vital for the development of …

A Persecuted Minority To Wealthy Merchants And Planters: A Study Of A Huguenot Family And Shifts In Identity, Garrett Gay

Honors College Theses

This project takes a look at an interwoven system of familial, religious, social, and economic ties known as the Protestant International. By analyzing genealogies, correspondence, business records, and transactions of the Mazyck Family from the early eighteenth century, it is seen that these international connections often led to the further material success of these families. This project also takes a look at how the Protestant International aided in shifting the vast majority of Huguenots’ identity from being religiously persecuted refugees to being wealthy merchants and planters who formed trade relations both domestically and internationally.

Analysis Of Spindle Whorls And Fishing Weights From The Ancient Maya Trading Port Of Moho Cay, Belize, Kaitlin Samples

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract

Trading, fishing, and spinning thread were important parts of the ancient Maya world. Iconography and archaeological excavations have shown the importance of the three activities. The ancient Maya had an extensive trade network along the Belize River. The site of Moho Cay was an important trading area within this network. Excavations at Moho Cay show the importance of trade, fishing, and spinning at Moho Cay. The excavations done in 1979, led by Dr. McKillop and the team of Trent University, yielded a large sample of spindle whorls and fishing weights. Analysis of these spindle whorls and fishing weights is …

Colonial Markets, Consumers, And Trade: A Comparative Analysis Of Historic Ceramics From The Bluefields Bay Area, Westmoreland, Jamaica, Lacy Risner

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The ceramic assemblages from a British colonial settlement in Bluefields Bay, Jamaica, provide a unique window into the market availability, exchange routes, and consumption patterns of the eighteenth century. This study compares the historic ceramics collected from two sites in Bluefields Bay to one another and to other intra-island (Jamaica), intraregional (Lesser Antilles), and international (North America) colonial and postcolonial sites to reveal patterns of individual and global ceramic consumption and distribution in the emergent capitalist networks and markets of the colonial era. Integrating small British colonial sites into the networks of other more extensive studies focusing primarily on plantations …

Missouri Soybean Exports And The Democratizing Market Force, David D. Hammons

MSU Graduate Theses

A commonly held assumption of America’s post-Cold War place in the world is that prolonged contact with American capitalism and democracy will lead to the adoption of these systems in all nations that participate in international trade. This paper attempts to verify or disprove that assumption by examining a specific traded commodity between two specific nations, the institutions that support this trade, and the people actively participating in it. The growth of soybean exports from the state of Missouri provides this vehicle for examining the trade history between the United States of America and China, and provides evidence that disproves …

Blood Money: 12th Century Trade Wars And The Fourth Crusade, Alexander Evgeniy Stalowski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The historiography of the Fourth Crusade has neglected long-term macroeconomic developments and its influence on the Fourth Crusade within the Byzantine Empire and the Italian states of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa. It is well-established that the Venetians rerouted the crusading forces to Constantinople which caused political, religious, and economic challenges that altered the Mediterranean world. Yet, the trend of writing on political events and short-term microeconomics and macroeconomics from 1180 to 1204, has done great disservice to the larger trans-regional disputes that engulfed the Mediterranean during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This thesis will attempt to fill the void of …

Try The Wine: Food As An Expression Of Cultural Identity In Roman Britain, Molly Reininger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research surrounding cultural identity and food customs throughout history are published often, but any research that attempts to combine the two are often based in more recent history. Few combinations of the two are available, and fewer explore the implications within ancient colonization and expansion.

The research for this thesis was conducted with three viewpoints in mind: the colonization of Britannia from Romans within the new colony, the colonization from the native Briton's perspective, and the Roman citizens within Britannia at the end of Rome's military involvement with the colony. This method was chosen because in the early years of …

“We May Have Profitable Commerce And Trade Together”: An Analysis Of 17th-Century Ceramics In Plymouth Colony, Elizabeth G. Tarulis

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis analyzes the formation of early English colonial trade networks through an examination of three Plymouth Colony sites. This research compares the 17th-century ceramics from Burial Hill (a recently discovered section of the core of the initial settlement, 1620-c. 1660) to two homesteads established later by Plymouth colonists, the Alden First Home Site (c. 1627- c. 1697) and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site (1631-c. 1691). A minimum number of vessels was established for each site and the country of origin was established for each vessel to determine the origin of consumer goods, specifically ceramics, in Plymouth Colony. These vessels were then …

Depot Harbour: The Rise And Fall Of An Ontario Grain Port, Patrick Holland-Stergar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis considers the creation, commercial success, decline, and abandonment of Depot Harbour, a major grain port in Ontario. I argue that the rapid, early success of the port beginning in 1898 was only possible with the confluence of economic globalization of grain markets, the expansion of the grain trade and transportation routes in Canada, and ownership invested in the port’s success. The transfer of ownership to a national railroad left Depot Harbour exposed to the negative ramifications of consolidation and nationalization of the railroad system of Canada, which led to its neglect and ultimate abandonment by 1945 despite the …

Traders And Troublemakers: Sovereignty In Southern Morocco At The End Of The 19th Century, Joseph Campbell Hilleary

Honors Projects

This thesis explores changes in and challenges to Moroccan political authority in the region of the Sous during the late nineteenth century. It attempts to show how the phenomenon of British informal empire created a crisis over Moroccan sovereignty that caused the sultan to both materially and discursively change the way he wielded power in southern Morocco. It further connects these changes and the narrative contestation that accompanied them to the construction of the Bilad al-Siba/Bilad al-Makhzan dichotomy found in Western academic literature on Morocco starting in the colonial period. It begins with an examination of letters between Sultan Hassan …

Horses, Culture, And Trade: The Impact Of The Horse On Southeastern Native Nations, 1650-1830, Jacob Featherling

Master's Theses

A small portion of the regional literature details the impact of horses on Southeastern Native nations and focuses on a few of the larger groups, particularly the Choctaw, from the mid-eighteenth to the nineteenth century. This thesis intends to increase the scope to analyze the entire Southeastern region, as well as multiple Native nations in the area. The thesis argues that Southeastern Natives slowly adopted horses into their economies and cultures over a longer period of time than previously believed, allowing them to increase their use of horses easily to meet market demands. Instead of southeastern nations rapidly adapting their …

Entangled Trade: Peaceful Spanish-Osage Relations In The Missouri River Valley, 1763-1780, Maryellen Ruth Harman

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis examines peaceful Spanish-Osage and Spanish-Missouri relations with an emphasis on the period 1763-1780. Using specific primary source documentation, this study highlights frequent reports from Lieutenant-Governors stationed at St. Louis concerning the thriving fur trade and positive Osage economic exchanges with Spanish-licensed traders. The multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial inhabitants and the entangled nature of trade and political interactions in the Missouri River Valley region, specifically in the Upper Louisiana capital, St. Louis, complicated and sometimes undermined peace. During this period, however, the Spanish, Osage, and Missouri nations, sought to overcome these misunderstandings and emphasized instead the mutual benefits of trade …

The Germination Of The German Nation: A Case Study On The Art Of Drawing Political Borders, Maximilian Tirey

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the unification of Germany in 1871 as a case study for successful political border drawing in the modern age. Germany’s rise from 39 separate kingdoms into a single, stable, economic world power is interesting; it reflects a similar environment currently found in the Middle East and Africa. There, too, many smaller ethnic, religious, cultural, or tribal groups are found within a single country. However, why was Germany able to hold together, while many Middle Eastern and African countries struggle with constant internal strife? The rise of Germany into an industrial world power is best analyzed through the …

"An Ample Provision For Our Posterity": Transportation, Ceramic Diversity, And Trade In Historic Arkansas, 1800-1930, Katherine Rose Cleek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I present a method to study transportation using ceramic diversity and access to transportation infrastructure. Ceramic tableware richness, or the number of types present, is analyzed over time as a proxy for access to local transportation infrastructure at seven sites in Arkansas, dating from approximately 1800 to 1930. Previous efforts to look at trade in historical archaeology including Adams (1976), Riordan and Adams (1985), and Adams, Bowers, and Mills (2001) have not thoroughly assessed transportation as a means of trade. This dissertation looks at the many ways of assessing diversity in archaeology, biology, business, and economics, as …

From Forest To Freshet: The Development Of The Upper Connecticut River Valley Of New Hampshire, 1750-1820, Madeleine Beihl

Honors Theses and Capstones

Outlining the development of the Upper Connecticut River Valley and its effects on the growth of New Hampshire. Concentrates on the period from first European settlements in the region to the early American republic. Especially important to this study are the region's networks of trade and communication.

The Impact Of Caesar Augustus On Roman Trade, William Edwin Wilson

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper studies Gaius Julius Octavian Caesar (Augustus) who combined the military/political expertise of a Roman Patrician with the practical business sense of the upper middle class (Equites) and as a consequence, his administration revived Rome’s economic fortunes and launched a new period of economic prosperity for the Empire. It also explores the specific actions of Augustus and those near to him that led directly to the revival of Rome’s economic fortunes and the remodeling of Rome and its many celebrated monuments and essential buildings. It concludes with a final summation of the man and his contributions to Rome’s success …

Brazil; Our Economic Partner: A Study Of Brazil And The Future Of Our Trade, Dorothy Kleppinger

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This 62 page thesis examines Brazil's history, resources, industrialization and relations with the United States.

The Rise Of The Banana Industry And Its Influence On Caribbean Countries, John L. Williams

Historical Dissertations & Theses

The phenomenal growth of the banana industry is one of the most outstanding features of commerce during the last half century. Like the banana tree itself, this industry has grown to stupendous size in a relatively short span of time. Why has this business continued to grow and why at the present time is it still expanding? The answer is that the banana has become internationally recognized as a very nourishing food and as populations increase, so must he banana trade increase in order to supply the demand. In order to thoroughly understand the banana industry one must first acquaint …