Synopses & Reviews
Over a period of several centuries, Europeans developed an intricate system of plantation agriculture overseas that was quite different from the agricultural system used at home. Though the plantation complex centered on the American tropics, its influence was much wider. Much more than an economic order for the Americas, the plantation complex had an important place in world history. These essays concentrate on the intercontinental impact.
Review
"Anyone interested in New World foundations should begin with this collection; even experts will find thought-provoking moments here." R.T. Brown, Choice"...the breadth of Curtin's coverage and the immense learning and influence that he brings to this difficult task of synthesis doubtless puts The Rise and Fall on the short list of essential readings for anyone interested in Atlantic history." Francisco A. Scarano, International Journal of African History Studies
Table of Contents
Preface; Part I. Beginnings: 1. The Mediterranean origins; 2. Sugar planting: from Cyprus to the Atlantic islands; 3. Africa and the slave trade; 4. Capitalism, feudalism, and sugar planting in Brazil; 5. Bureaucrats and freelances in Spanish America; Part II. Seventeenth-Century Transition: 6. The sugar revolution and the settlement of the Caribbean; 7. Anarchy and imperial control; 8. Slave societies on the periphery; Part III. Apogee and Revolution: 9. The slave trade and the West African economy in the eighteenth century; 10. Atlantic commerce in the eighteenth century; 11. The democratic revolution in the Atlantic basin; 12. Revolution in the French Antilles; Part IV. Aftermath: 13. Readjustments in the nineteenth century; 14. The end of slavery in the Americas; Retrospect.