Capitalism in the Colonies : African Merchants in Lagos, 1851-1931.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hopkins, A. G.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism--Nigeria--History.

Capitalism.

Merchants--Nigeria--Lagos--History.

Merchants.

Nigeria--Lagos.

Nigeria.

Great Britain.

Nigeria--Foreign economic relations--Great Britain--History.

Great Britain--Foreign economic relations--Nigeria--History.

Nigeria--Economic conditions--History.

Lagos (Nigeria)--Commerce--History.

Lagos (Nigeria).

Genre:

History.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (577 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2024.

Summary:

"A look into the Golden Age of African merchants at the end of the nineteenth century, through case studies in Lagos"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

Orthography, Currency Values, and Weights

Abbreviations

Prologue: A Gunboat for Christmas, 1851

Chapter 1: The Global Meets the Local

The Revival of Economic History

Port Cities in History

The Colonial Port City

Entrepreneurship in a Colonial Context

The Entrepreneurs of Lagos

Cases and Sources

Three Shocks

Signposts

Part I: The Shock of 1851

Chapter 2: Creating a Cosmopolitan Frontier, 1851-1880

The Expansion of Legitimate Commerce

Business Uncertainty under the Consulate

Founding a New Colony

Settling In: The Town and Its Inhabitants

The Saro Draw Lines in the Sand

The New Order Established

Chapter 3: The Mercantile Community

The New Commercial Environment

Property Becomes Big Business

Winners and Losers

Men of the Marina

Taking Stock

Chapter 4: Chief Daniel Taiwo and His Network

Becoming a Lagosian

From Kosoko to Glover

'The Head of All the Markets in the Colony'

Business and Politics

The Closing Years

Conclusion

Chapter 5: James Davies, King of the Merchant Princes

A Saro Story-With Royal Connections

Davies and Taiwo: An Unexpected Alliance

From the Heights to the Depths

Returning to Business

Halfway

Part II: The Shock of 1892

Chapter 6: Crisis and Transition, 1880-1900

The Commercial Outlook

Business Uncertainty under the Colony

Expanding the Colony

The Commercial Consequences of Colonial Expansion

The Port and Its People

Reverberations

Chapter 7: The Mercantile Community

The Consequences of the Invasion of Yorubaland

Failure and Success

The End of a Golden Age

'Decline' in Context

Chapter 8: Merchants as Money Lenders: Richard Blaize and Isaac Williams

Context

Richard Beale Blaize: Beginnings.

Diversification: Property and Money Lending

A Family Man

Newspapers and Politics

Blaize's Legacy

Isaac Benjamin Williams: Early Life

The Import Trade

Property, Mortgages, and Rentals

Family and Church

Two Lives Compared

Chapter 9: James Davies: The First of the Cocoa Farmers

Acquiring Woodland Estate

Developing the Estate in the 1880s

The Estate Farm Book, 1896-1899

Ijon as a Centre of Innovation

Output and Profits

Final Years

A Full Life

Chapter 10: The Changing Economic Environment, 1900-1914

Commercial Expansion and Colonial Development Policy

Institutional Innovation

Political Aspects of Entrepreneurial Motivation

The Port and Its Inhabitants

The Consequences of the Second Shock

Chapter 11: Accommodation and Diversification

Mercantile Fortunes

Accommodating Colonial Rule

Diversifying the Economy

Pioneers of Mechanisation

Financial Innovation

Bouncing Back

Chapter 12: Negotiating Colonial Rule: Josiah Doherty and Samuel Pearse

The Doherty Family: Beginnings

Josiah Doherty Founds His Own Business

Feeling the Strain, 1914-1928

The Man in the Merchant

Samuel Pearse: The Great Survivor

Calabar and the Ivory Boom

The War and Its Aftermath

Two Kinds of Success

Chapter 13: Jacob Coker and the New Farming Frontier at Agege

From Commerce to Farming

The Agege Plantation Complex

The Farming Community

The Agege Planters' Union

Costs and Benefits

From Davies to Coker

Part III: The Shock of 1914

Chapter 14: War and Its Consequences

The Fortunes of War

The Changing Commercial Environment

Boom and Bust

The Mercantile Community

Co-operation and Innovation

The Outcome

Chapter 15: Peter Thomas: From Meteor to Falling Star

The Making of a Civil Servant.

From Government Official to Merchant

The Exigencies of War

Life at the Top

The Long Descent

The Final Phase

A Vision Postponed

Chapter 16: A Conclusion, a Conundrum, and a Speculation

Conclusion: Capitalists and the Spread of Capitalism

Conundrum: The Missing Years

Speculation: Development in the Long Run

Epilogue: Congestion for Christmas, 2022

Appendix: Lagos Entrepreneurs, 1851-1931

Sources

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780691258959

0691258953

OCLC:

1432601103