Coursework.Info - Inspiration in an Instant

On the left is an image preview of every page of this document, and below are the first 150 words with formatting removed:

Empire: Britain's Expanding World 'A magnificent superstructure of American commerce and naval power on an African foundation.' (Malachy Postlethwayt) Discuss this eighteenth-century view of the relationship between the slave trade and Britain's Atlantic empire. Malachy Postlethwayt wrote this statement in 1745 in his book, The African Trade, the Great Pillar and support of the British Plantation Trade, and his mercantilist standpoint has often been quoted and central in the debate concerning the extent to which the slave trade contributed to Britain's naval and commercial power.1 I agree with Postlethwayt's statement because the size of Britain's Atlantic empire or the 'empire of goods' necessitated her large and strong navy to maintain trade and more importantly, protect the transport of products and peoples, including African slaves. The 'African foundation' refers to the central role of the slave trade in the transatlantic enterprise and, as this paper will argue, made Britain a superior oceanic trading...

Get instant access

• Instant, unlimited access to our documents in full
• Swap your work for free access, or pay £4.99
• To see the full version of this document and 150,044 others