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For two generations after independence, Americans viewed the Mediterranean as the new commercial frontier. From common sailors to wealthy merchants, hundreds of Americans flocked to live and work there. Documenting the eventful lives of three American consuls and their families at the ports of Tangier, Livorno, and Alicante, Lawrence A. Peskin portrays the rise and fall of America's Mediterranean community from 1776 to 1840. We learn how three ordinary merchants became American consuls; how they created flourishing communities; built social and business networks; and interacted with Jews, Muslims, and Catholics. When the bubble burst during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, American communities across the Mediterranean rapidly declined, resulting in the demise of the consuls' fortunes and health. A unique look into early American diplomacy, Three Consuls provides a much-needed overview of early consular service that highlights the importance of US activities in the Mediterranean region.
List of contents
Introduction; Part I. Rise of the Mediterranean Community: 1. Becoming American (and) consuls; 2. James Simpson: isolation and diplomacy in Gibraltar and Tangier; 3. Robert Montgomery: Multiple identities in Alicante; 4. Thomas Appleton: community and conflict in Livorno's American community; Part II. Community Structures: 5. The American social network and national identity; 6. Business networks and the problem of self-interest; 7. Contact with 'others': race, chauvinism and the notion of empire; Part III. Collapse: 8. The long decline; 9. Selling empire; 10. Death and dismemberment; Epilogue: Latin America and the turn toward Empire; Bibliography.
About the author
Lawrence A. Peskin is Professor of History at Morgan State University. He is a leading scholar of the early national United States in international context, with a focus on the Mediterranean world. He is the author of Captives and Countrymen: Barbary Slavery and the American Public 1785–1816 (2009) and co-author of America and the World: Culture, Commerce, Conflict (2011).
Summary
Three Consuls examines American ambitions in the Mediterranean in the generations after independence through the business and personal networks of consuls in Morocco, Italy and Spain. It will appeal to readers interested in US history, European history, North African history, and international studies.
