Enterprise and Society Advance Access published online on November 20, 2007
Enterprise and Society, doi:10.1093/es/khm081
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference.
The New England Cod Fishing Industry and Maritime Dimensions of the American Revolution
CHRISTOPHER P. MAGRA is Director of the Center for the Study of Atlantic History and Assistant Professor of Early American/Atlantic History in the Department of History at the California State University at Northridge. Contact information: Department of History, California State University at Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-8250.
E-mail: cpm81964@csun.edu
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The American Revolution cannot be fully understood without coming to terms with the military mobilization of the commercial fishing industry. Throughout the eighteenth century enormous amounts of capital and manpower were invested in the production and distribution of dried, salted cod. Huge profits were reaped in transatlantic trade with Catholic regions in Europe.1 On the eve of the Revolution cod was king in colonial New England. Between 1768 and 1772, fish contributed 35 percent of New England's total export revenue, making it the single most valuable export product for the entire region at this time.2 Massachusetts maintained a prominent place in this economic sector.3 Between 1765 and 1775, 20 ports in this key colony harbored a fleet of 565–665 vessels of 19,550–29,090 tons.4 During this period, 4,405 Massachusetts fishermen hauled in 350,000 quintals of fish.5 This was a vibrant colonial extractive industry.
The commercial fishing industry mobilized for the Revolutionary