Profits from colonialism in the Americas – a semiperipheral perspective

• There has been a large discussion on whether Europe gained economically from acquiring colonies overseas. A related issue is what parties in Europe did gain on this process. This paper looks at the case of Denmark, and its colonies in the West Indies. The paper shows that all the major parties in Denmark – producers, consumers and the Danish Crown – gained on the country possessing colonies in the West Indies. The net profits were far from negligible for many of the parties involved. The results stand in sharp contrast to previous research that has looked at the British gains of colonialism. The Danish case might thus diversify the picture of who stood to gain from colonialism in the Americas, and potentially give a more accurate picture of the costs and gains of colonialism per se.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Ekonomisk historia (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economic History (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Economic History

Colonialism

Americas

Denmark

Danish West Indies

Williams’ thesis

rent-seeking

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)