German Merchants in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic

320 Pages·2013·2.513 MB·English

by  Lars Maischak

more information – www.cambridge.org/9781107017290

GERMAN MERCHANTS IN THE
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ATLANTIC
Thisstudybringstolifethecommunityoftransatlanticmerchantswhoestablished
strongeconomic,political,andculturaltiesbetweentheUnitedStatesandthecity-
republicofBremen,Germany,inthenineteenthcentury.LarsMaischakshowsthat
the success of Bremen’s merchants in helping make an industrial-capitalist world
market created the conditions of their ultimate undoing: the new economy of
industrial capitalism gave rise to democracy and the nation-state, undermining
the political and economic power of this mercantile elite. Maischak argues that
theexperienceofBremen’smerchantsisrepresentativeofthetransformationofthe
role of merchant capital in the first wave of globalization, with implications for
ourunderstandingofmoderncapitalismingeneral.
LarsMaischakisalecturerinthehistorydepartmentatCaliforniaStateUniversity,
Fresno.Thisstudyisbasedonhisdissertation,forwhichtheFriendsoftheGerman
HistoricalInstituteawardedhimtheFritzSternPrizeforthebestdissertationinthe
fieldofGerman-AmericanHistoryin2006.

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German Merchants in the
Nineteenth-Century Atlantic
LARS MAISCHAK
CaliforniaStateUniversity,Fresno
GERMAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE
Washington,D.C.
and
cambridge university press
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CambridgeUniversityPress
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107017290
©LarsMaischak2013
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2013
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Maischak,Lars,1970–author.
Germanmerchantsinthenineteenth-centuryAtlantic/LarsMaischak.
pages cm.–(PublicationsoftheGermanHistoricalInstitute)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-01729-0
1. HanseaticLeague–History–19thcentury. 2. Merchants–Germany–
History–19thcentury. 3. Merchants–UnitedStates–History–19thcentury.
4. Germany–Commerce–UnitedStates.–History–19thcentury.
5. UnitedStates–Commerce–Germany.–History–19thcentury. I. Title.
hf458.m25 2013
382.09430073–dc23 2012033797
isbn978-1-107-01729-0Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofurlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredto
inthispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
Websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
ListofTables,Graphs,andMaps pageix
Glossary xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Prologue xv
Introduction 1
PartI. MooringsoftheHanseaticNetwork
1 PrudentPioneers:HanseatsinTransatlantic
Trade,1798–1860 21
2 TheHanseaticHousehold:Families,Firms,and
Faith,1815–1864 50
3 CosmopolitanConservatives:HometownTraditionsand
WesternIdeasinBremishPolitics,1806–1860 82
PartII. ExchangesinaTransnationalWorld
4 FreeLaborandDependentLabor:FromPatronagetoWage
LaborandSocialControl,1810–1861 111
5 InternationalImprovement:Hanseats,Hamiltonians,and
Jacksonians,1845–1860 131
6 Nations,Races,andEmpires:HanseatsEncounterthe
Other,1837–1859 159
PartIII. DeclineofaCosmopolitanCommunity
7 TheEndofMerchantCapital:CrisisandAdaptationina
WorldofIndustrialCapitalism,1857–1890 197
8 DecisionsandDivisions:HanseaticResponsesto
Nation-MakingWars,1859–1867 221
vii
viii Contents
9 PatriarchsintoPatriots:HanseatsinaWorldof
Nation-States,1867–1945 250
Conclusion 263
Sources 273
Bibliography 277
Index 291