Boston and the Atlantic World: One City's Dilemma

Sharon Rodgers

The increasing interconnections among the distant economies of the Atlantic trading world produced problems as well as benefits. In Boston, the city's often inadequate food supply had to satisfy the demands of an active overseas wholesale trade as well as the needs of local consumers. The dual function served by the public markets led townsmen to perceive them as a threat. These perceptions were fostered by the chronically abusive practices among merchants and farmers intent on maximizing their profits in the blossoming overseas trade. The ingredients for conflict were present.

[WP # 99025]