The English Atlantic, 1675-1740: An Exploration of Communication and Community

by Ian K. Steele

Overview

Exploding the curious myth that the ocean is a barrier rather than a highway for communication, this unusual interdisciplinary study examines the English Atlantic context of early American life. From the winterless Caribbean to the ice-locked Hudson Bay, maritime communications in fact usually met the legitimate expectations for frequency, speed, and safety, while increased shipping, new postal services, and newspapers hastened the exchange of news. These changes in avenues of communications reflected—and, in turn, enhanced—the political, economic, and social integration of the English Atlantic between 1675 and 1740. As Steele deftly describes the influence of physical, technological, socioeconomic, and political aspects of seaborne communication on the community, he suggests an exciting new mode of analyzing Colonial history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195039689
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/18/1986
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	412
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

University of Western Ontario

Table of Contents

1.	Introduction	3
Part I	News by Merchantman
2.	Sugar Routes	21
3.	Tobacco Routes	41
4.	Western Routes	57
5.	Northern Routes and the English Atlantic	78
6.	Communicating Revolution, 1688-1689	94
Part II	Comanding Time
7.	The Posts	113
8.	The Papers	132
9.	The Packet Boats, 1702-1715	168
10.	Sending Peace and War Beyond the Line, 1667-1739	189
Part III	The English Atlantic: Aspects and Implications
11.	Commerce and Communications	213
12.	Governors, Agents, and the Communication of Politics	229
13.	Communication and Community	251
14.	Conclusion	273
	Abbreviations	279
Appendix	Tables	281
	Notes	319
	Index	391

Editorial Reviews

"Fills a major gap in our knowledge of how the Old Empire worked."—The Historian

"Every reader can learn plenty from reading the book closely. Steele offers abundant detail on counless subjects....He has done heroic quantities of archival research....An informative, scholarly, thorough analysis."—Journal of Modern History

"Repays a careful reading not merely for its wealth of detail but also because it suggests a promising perspective for considering the English Atlantic world and, indeed, much of early American history....It belongs on that small but growing shelf of indispensable books on communications in colonial America."—Technology and Culture

"A tour de force...By focusing on aspects of this history which many social and economic historians simply ignore, he has made a splendid contribution to what some of us think is the best sort of new social history."—Canadian Journal of History

"Many scholars have seen the Atlantic Ocean as an intercontinental divide separating England from her American colonies, creating isolated societies. Early modern Atlantic communications have ofteen been portrayed as slow, infrequent, and dangerous. In this detailed and provocative study, Steele presents a challenging and radical reinterpretation of such views."—CHOICE

"There is quite simply no antecedent work within the field to which [this] can be compared....It is very rare that a book so original in concept is also so comprehensive in its coverage and in the depth of its research."—Richard Johnson, University of Washington

"Steele has amassed and carefully interpreted a body of evidence, both primary and secondary, unsurpassed in its richness and comprehensiveness....He provides an excelletn background to the role of communications before the period of disintegration leading to 1776."—The Geographical Review

"Steele's well-researched and well-written study tells us much about the workings of the English Atlantic world....A clearly significant contribution to early modern historiography."—Business History Review

"Excellent....Steele's novel perspective on Anglo-American history and his meticulous mining of primary and secondary materials combine to make this a book at once solid and exciting."—Journal of American Studies

From the Publisher