The proposed session will delve on aspects of the political economy and monetary policymaking
surrounding commodity money in North America and the Atlantic economy during the 17th-19th centuries. The panelists are particularly interested in exploring the monetary and financial uses of precious metals, their markets and the actors involved in their intermediation, within the colonial and early republican United States, and embracing a variety of local, Atlantic, and global approaches.
Jane Knodell (The University of Vermont) will present a paper about how the colony of Massachusetts handled silver money during and after the establishment of its mint (1650-1720). Jane’s paper will focus on the role of merchants and silversmiths in silver markets and monetary policymaking from the mid 17th century to the late 18th century.
Andrew Edwards (Oxford University) will present a paper combining intellectual, political and legal history to better understand contemporary debates regarding the definition of means of payment and unit of account for the import trade in colonial Virginia during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). Andrew’s paper will explore the tensions behind the diverging political economy arrangements of money in the British metropole and its North American colonies.
Manuel Bautista Gonzalez (Columbia University in the City of New York) will present a paper about the use of Mexican silver dollars in New Orleans from the late Jacksonian era through the Union occupation of the port (1838-1862). After examining the inflows and provenance of Mexican silver dollars coming into New Orleans, Manuel explores the political economy implications of firms and merchants controlling such hard-powered currency for the provision of liquidity in antebellum financial and trade circuits.
Sharon Ann Murphy (Providence College) will chair the session and provide comments to the papers. The session will be of interest to scholars interested in issues surrounding metallic and commodity money, monetary policymaking, and the political economy of silver and gold in the colonial and antebellum United States.