The Ties That Buy

By Ellen Hartigan-O'Connor,

Book cover of The Ties That Buy: Women and Commerce in Revolutionary America

Book description

In 1770, tavernkeeper Abigail Stoneman called in her debts by flourishing a handful of playing cards before the Rhode Island Court of Common Pleas. Scrawled on the cards were the IOUs of drinkers whose links to Stoneman testified to women's paradoxical place in the urban economy of the late eighteenth…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Ties That Buy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It has been broadly recognised in recent years that the traditional perception of early-modern Atlantic business as a male-dominated space is outmoded and inaccurate. In this superb book, Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor shows that the women who participated in commerce – from all ranks of society – were not exceptions in exclusively male-dominated markets but were ‘quintessential market participants’. Appealing strongly to my own approach to business history, Hartigan-O’Connor marries social and economic history, providing an updated view of who the commercial players were in eighteenth-century America.

From Siobhan's list on early-modern business history.

Want books like The Ties That Buy?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Ties That Buy.

Browse books like The Ties That Buy

Book cover of Empire of Cotton: A Global History
Book cover of Entrepreneurial Families: Business, Marriage and Life in the Early Nineteenth Century
Book cover of 'Merely for Money'?: Business Culture in the British Atlantic, 1750-1815

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,175

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the economy, women, and trade?

The Economy 184 books
Women 649 books
Trade 33 books