Trade, Migration and Urban Networks, c. 1640-1940: An Introduction
Trade, Migration and Urban Networks, c. 1640-1940: An Introduction
This chapter introduces the major themes of the journal, namely, the way merchants built their businesses through trade networks that encompassed migration and port demographics. It outlines the activities of merchants and their approaches to risk reduction that subsequent chapters explore. In summary, these commercial risks included maritime insurance and ‘bottomry’; piracy; war; fire - a particular risk due to steam fire pump technology; port safety - including the threat of disease; and fraud. It outlines the various methods by which maritime merchants judged their business contacts trustworthy. Networks - religious, ethnic, personal, familial, were all ways in which a merchant could judge trustworthiness, though this system was not immune to failure, as further chapters demonstrate.
Keywords: Bottomry, Maritime Insurance, Port Health, Port Networks, Merchant Networks
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