Defying Empire
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Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York
Thomas M. Truxes
A dramatic account of illicit trading by New York City merchants, some of whom became America’s Founding Fathers, during the French and Indian War
This enthralling book is the first to uncover the story of New York City merchants who engaged in forbidden trade with the enemy before and during the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War). Ignoring British prohibitions designed to end North America’s wartime trade with the French, New York’s merchant elite conducted a thriving business in the French West Indies, insisting that their behavior was protected by long practice and British commercial law. But the government in London viewed it as treachery, and its subsequent efforts to discipline North American commerce inflamed the colonists.
Through fast-moving events and unforgettable characters, historian Thomas M. Truxes brings eighteenth-century New York and the Atlantic world to life. There are spies, street riots, exotic settings, informers, courtroom dramas, interdictions on the high seas, ruthless businessmen, political intrigues, and more. The author traces each phase of the city’s trade with the enemy and details the frustrations that affected both British officials and independent-minded New Yorkers. The first book to focus on New York City during the Seven Years’ War, Defying Empire reveals the important role the city played in hastening the colonies’ march toward revolution.
"Truxes forges a gripping tale about the conflict between New York's merchant community and British military leaders charged with winning Great Britain's first world war—the French and Indian War."—John McCusker, Trinity University
"Defying Empire is one of the most remarkable books I've read in years. The story of how New York's merchants traded with the French during the Seven Years War is revelatory. It depicts a degree of alienation or indifference or both to demands for imperial loyalty from London that foreshadows the coming American Revolution. It is also a riveting drama in and of itself."—Thomas Fleming, author of The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle to Survive After Yorktown
Publication Date: February 23, 2010
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