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Chapter 1 - A Colonial Empire in Crisis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2019

Pernille Røge
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
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Summary

Chapter 1 illuminates the inherent weaknesses of the French colonial empire on the eve of the Seven Years War and examines initial efforts to embark on imperial reform during peace negotiations between France and Britain. The chapter uses the correspondence of Jean-Antoine Riqueti de Mirabeau, governor of Guadeloupe in the Îles du Vent between 1753 and 1755, to shed light on the problems of the French Caribbean plantation complex and to show how Mirabeau’s experiences influenced the intellectual vision of his older brother, Victor Riqueti de Mirabeau, who co-founded Physiocracy together with François Quesnay. From here, the chapter analyses war-time discussions on the future of the French colonies within the Ministries of the Marine and of Foreign Affairs. While these discussions culminated in the well-known strategy to enhance the French Caribbean plantation complex, the chapter reveals that government officials were also contemplating alternative paths to empire rooted in a vision of mutual prosperity between the metropole and the colonies and a reorientation of colonial empire from the Americas to West Africa.

Type
Chapter
Information
Economistes and the Reinvention of Empire
France in the Americas and Africa, c.1750–1802
, pp. 24 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • A Colonial Empire in Crisis
  • Pernille Røge, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: Economistes and the Reinvention of Empire
  • Online publication: 29 July 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108672900.002
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  • A Colonial Empire in Crisis
  • Pernille Røge, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: Economistes and the Reinvention of Empire
  • Online publication: 29 July 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108672900.002
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A Colonial Empire in Crisis
  • Pernille Røge, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: Economistes and the Reinvention of Empire
  • Online publication: 29 July 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108672900.002
Available formats
×