Peter Mancall on ‘The Origins of the American Economy’, 20/1/2020

We're back after a long winter break. The dust has been blown off, our legs have been stretched, and the Cambridge American History Seminar is up and running again! This week Peter Mancall, Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History at the University of Oxford for the academic year 2019-2020 and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Professor of History and Anthropology at the University of Southern California, talks to Lewis Defrates about his paper ‘The Origins of the American Economy’. The pair discuss about the four case studies used in the paper and the themes he explores to demonstrate the existing economies in North America, both indigenous and those generated through imperial encounters, prior to the foundation of Jamestown by English settlers in 1607. Professor Mancall also discusses the need to think about economic behaviour and structures outside that which is easily quantifiable, the historic importance of cumulative experience in the production of a ‘grammar of colonization’ on the part of European colonizers, and three of the most incredible archival experiences you’re likely to hear about any time soon. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, get in touch via @camericanist on Twitter or [email protected]. Spread the word, and thanks for listening!

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