Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Maps
- 1 The mining-driven economy and its demise: from settlement to 1808
- 2 Economic transformations, 1808–1888
- 3 Demographic rhythms from settlement to the census of 1872
- 4 Demographic aspects of slavery, 1720–1888
- 5 Economic aspects of slavery, 1720–1888
- 6 Conclusions
- Appendixes
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Economic aspects of slavery, 1720–1888
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Maps
- 1 The mining-driven economy and its demise: from settlement to 1808
- 2 Economic transformations, 1808–1888
- 3 Demographic rhythms from settlement to the census of 1872
- 4 Demographic aspects of slavery, 1720–1888
- 5 Economic aspects of slavery, 1720–1888
- 6 Conclusions
- Appendixes
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Prices
Most people in nearly all societies pay for the commodities they use or consume. The universality of this basic fact of life across cultures and time periods has led historians to research short- and long-term trends in commodity prices as tools for understanding social and economic history. Price structures for goods and services not only play a major role in the interactions within societies, they have also been fundamental in the evolution of economic relationships between nations and regions. The long-distance networks linking Europe with the rest of the world from the fifteenth century on were based upon trade, and international commerce was driven in large part by differences in commodity prices for a wide range of products. Price differentials between agricultural staple products, manufactured capital and consumer goods, and labor – among other factors – have resulted in economic interactions which have in turn influenced the inequalities in wealth distribution among nations over the past five centuries.
It is nearly impossible to interpret these long-term economic trends and their social impacts within and between societies without some notion of how prices for a wide range of commodities have changed over time. Indeed, as the discipline of economic history evolved during the twentieth century, one of the focal points of much early research was the reconstruction of basic historical price series and indexes.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999