Profits in the wilderness : entrepreneurship and the founding of New England towns in the seventeenth century / John Frederick Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martin, John Frederick, author.

Contributor:

Institute of Early American History and Culture (Williamsburg, Va.), issuing body.

Series:

Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism--New England--History--17th century.

Capitalism.

Entrepreneurship--New England--History--17th century.

Entrepreneurship.

Cities and towns--New England--History--17th century.

Cities and towns.

New England--Economic conditions.

New England.

New England--Politics and government--To 1775.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (380 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press, [1991]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Instead of taking sides in the long-standing debate between Puritan scholars on the one hand and business historians on the other, Martin identifies strains within Puritanism and the rest of the colonists' culture that both discouraged and encouraged land commerce, both supported and undermined communalism, both hindered and hastened development of the wilderness. He reviews some 60 towns and the activities of 100 town founders. Paper edition (unseen), $12.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Acknowledgments; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; PART I: ENTREPRENEURSHIP; Chapter 1 Entrepreneurship and Town-Founding; I. Varieties of Town Promoters; II. Profits; III. Land Policies of the General Courts; Chapter 2 The Leading Entrepreneurs; I. The Connecticut Valley and Connecticut Colony; II. Rhode Island; III. Plymouth Colony; IV. The Nipmuck and the Merrimack; V. Maine and New Hampshire; Chapter 3 Commerce and Culture; I. Frontier Expansion and Puritanism; II. Land as a Commodity; PART II: TOWNS; Chapter 4 The Creation of Land Corporations in Towns

I. English CorporationsII. Town Covenants; III. The Separation of Church and Corporation; Chapter 5 The Use of Shares; I. Dividing Land; II. Financing Town Affairs; III. Voting; Chapter 6 The Exclusiveness of Land Corporations; I. Limiting the Membership of Corporations; II. The Nonproprietors of New England Towns; III. Towns Launched by Other Towns; Chapter 7 The Communal Ideal; I. The Landholding Community; II. The Social Community; Chapter 8 The Ambiguous Character of Town Institutions; I. Towns as Private Enterprises; II. The Clash of Public and Private Interpretations of Towns

PART III: TOWNS TRANSFORMEDChapter 9 The Separation of Proprietorships from Towns; I. The Land Policy of Sir Edmund Andros; II. The Reaction of the Towns; Chapter 10 The Emergence of Public Institutions; Conclusion: The New England Town Reconsidered; APPENDIXES; PART I; 1. Real Estate of Town Promoters; 2. Timing of Church Formations; PART II; A Note on Sources and the Sample; 3. The Town Sample; 4. Covenants Creating Land, Corporations; 5. Reduction of Admissions to Land Corporations; 6. Town Residents without Land Shares; 7. Nonresident Owners of Land Shares; 8. Land Division

9. Tax Assessment of Shares10. Franchise Restrictions; 11. Town Voting by Shares; 12. Town Land Fights; 13. Expansion of Land Corporations; Bibliography of Works Cited; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; MAP: New England Towns in the Seventeenth Century

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [335]-349) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

979-88-908869-5-8

979-88-908869-6-5

1-4696-0003-X

1-4696-1577-0

OCLC:

551524683