Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: A Study in International Trade and Economic Development / Edition 1

by Joseph E. Inikori

Overview

Drawing on classical development theory and recent theoretical advances on the connection between expanding markets and technological developments, this book reveals the critical role of the expansion of Atlantic commerce in the successful completion of England's industrialization from 1650-1850. The volume is the first detailed study of the role of overseas trade in the Industrial Revolution. It revises other explanations that have recently dominated the field and shifts the assessment of African contribution away from the debate on profits.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521010795
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/10/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 1.38(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The English economy in the Longue Duree; 3. A historiography of the first Industrial Revolution; 4. Slave-based commodity production and the growth of Atlantic commerce; 5. Britain and the supply of African slave labor to the Americas; 6. The Atlantic slave economy and English shipping; 7. The Atlantic slave economy and the development of financial institutions; 8. African-produced raw materials and industrial production in England; 9. Atlantic markets and the development of the major manufacturing sectors in England's industrialization; 10. Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

Arguing that private enterprise, market-based models of industrialization are only possible with an intensive involvement in international trade, Inikori (history, U. of Rochester) links the industrialization process in England (specifically, the completion of the mechanization of cotton textiles) to the role of the African Diaspora in the production of cotton as a commodity in the Americas. He argues that Atlantic trade was the central driving force behind England's industrialization and that this would not have been possible without the forced labor of African commodity production. The economies of scale of slave labor allowed prices on trade to be kept low enough that textile products were brought within reach of all of England's social classes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"...a brave and good book." Pat Hudson, Cardiff University, Journal of Modern History

"[A] densely argued, learned, and important book...Inikori builds a compelling case to which all serious students of industrialization will pay careful attention.[T]his powerful and closely-reasoned book has brought vigorous new life to an old debate." John Darwin, Nuffield College, Oxford, Albion

"Inikori's big book dispels any lingering doubts about the important part played by overseas trade in stimulating the innovation and enterprise that underpinned Britain's Industrial Revolution and makes a welcome attempt to add precision to our understanding of the linkages between slavery, Atlantic commerce, and long-run economic change." Nuala Zahedieh, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, International Journal of Maritime History

"Professor Inikori's ambitious book stressing the pivotal contribution of Africans (especially enslaved Africans) to England's industrialization is certain to persuade many readers. His thesis is provocative and may be relevant to contemporary political debates in the United States...a book that merits very close attention." John Singleton, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand, International Journal of Maritime History

"...[a] splendid book...I admire Inikori's book and regard the appearance of research which rehabilitates the role of the slave trade and slavery in British industrialisation as long overdue." Pat Hudson, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, International Journal of Maritime History

"Joseph Inikori has written a detailed and important book on the origins and causes of the English Industrial Revolution. Inikori makes it clear that historians can no longer neglect the role of Africans in Atlantic commerce and its effects on industrialisation..." Henk den Heijer, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands, International Journal of Maritime History

"...a treasure trove of information...a product of mature scholarship, vindicating the dedication of a life-time of research to a single great theme." William G. Clarence-Smith, SOAS, University of London, London, England, International Journal of Maritime History

"Inikori seeks to draw a parallel between international forces affecting Britain's industrialization, and international theories and development policies affecting economic development in the non-Western world after World War II. Inikori draws new attention to the impact of international trade on the development process in England." Maxine Berg, University of Warwick, Coventry, England, International Journal of Maritime History

"Joseph Inikori's Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: A Study in International Trade and Economic Development is destined to become a classic in the study of English, European, and world history. He has taken on a perennial topic of historical debate, and the book does what any good classic in history and social science should do. It provides broad historical context, challenging theorectical insights, rich empirical detail, and a well-constructed and provocative set of conclusions about the centrality of Africa's contribution to the modern period of history. It will engage scholars for decades to come." International Journal of African Historical Studies

"...a big book in every sense...provocative...convincing..." EH.NET

"A major contribution of Inikori is his melding of sources in the literature available to all of us with the results of his own far-reaching and deep-going archival research, especially in business company records, and in regional or even local primary sources, which permit him to construct his regionally and African-specific account of English industrialization." - Andre Gunder Frank, Luxembourg

From the Publisher