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Trans-Atlantic Exchange: the impact of cultural and commercial relationships forged in North America between 1836-1857 by the London tradesman and banker James Morrison

Dakers, Caroline (2013) Trans-Atlantic Exchange: the impact of cultural and commercial relationships forged in North America between 1836-1857 by the London tradesman and banker James Morrison. In: Britain and the World (British Scholar Society), University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Type of Research: Conference, Symposium or Workshop Item
Creators: Dakers, Caroline
Description:

When the Governor of Ohio declared, in 1837, ‘Credit has bought our land, built our cities, cleared our fields, founded our churches, erected our colleges and schools’, he was in part referring to the role played by British investors, in particular the elite group of seven Anglo-American financial houses who together financed almost the whole of American trade and investment in the country’s infrastructure – by 1837 British capital invested in the US amounted to some 174 million dollars. James Morrison (1789-1857) was at the head of one of the houses. A self-made man, he rose through trade in textiles and investments to become the richest commoner in 19th century Britain - his trading activities had a global reach.

This paper focused on two interconnected themes - commerce and culture – using material from the extensive but largely unpublished Morrison family archive, in particular letters sent home from America by Morrison’s two sons, Alfred and Charles, who travelled across the U.S., Canada and Cuba in 1841-45. By way of comparison it is fortuitous that Charles Dickens made his first visit to the States at exactly the same time – his experiences emerging as ‘American Notes’ and the novel ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’.

Keywords/subjects not otherwise listed: Banking and trade, London and North America, 19th century,
Your affiliations with UAL: Colleges > Central Saint Martins
Date: March 2013
Event Location: University of Texas at Austin, USA
Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2014 15:47
Last Modified: 02 Jun 2014 15:47
Item ID: 6682
URI: https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/6682

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