1 - Space, Place and People

Summary

may your sales still increase and the elbows of your coat be worn out in weighing the Jon. Pistoles.

Whilst the business culture of the merchants was shaped by the wider economic, social, and cultural milieu in which they functioned, Joshua Johnson's riposte in 1772 demonstrates that the long-term goal was to make a profit. As Isaac Wikoff noted two years later, ‘The Design of Trade is to make a profit in the End. I am sure I would have Quit a business immediately in which no Evident profit should arise.’ Johnson's reference to weighing the pistoles and the ‘Johannes’ or ‘Joe’ conjures a wonderful image of an avaricious merchant, but it also underscores the wider Atlantic context in which these merchants interacted with the Spanish and Portuguese, and indeed, other empires. This chapter therefore sets the wider context for this study. It first outlines the Atlantic world, and in particular, Britain's approach to the Atlantic economy viz-à-viz that of Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and France. It then outlines the institutional framework in which British merchants traded, and the major ports and commodities involved. Lastly, it outlines some of the major characters that appear in this book. Some of these men did not earn enough to wear out the elbows of their coats in counting their profits, but most did come into contact with pistoles at one time or another.