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Enlightened history and the decline of nations: Ferguson, Raynal, and the contested legacies of the Dutch Republic

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 16:03 authored by Iain McDanielIain McDaniel
This article examines and compares Adam Ferguson's and Guillaume-Thomas Raynal's analyses of modern commercial states by reconstructing their accounts of the history and politics of the Dutch Republic. For both writers, the Dutch case stood as a clear instance of the political dangers implicit in a particular type of commercial polity, and both sought to apply its lessons to an understanding of the future of their own states. Although Ferguson's and Raynal's arguments about the decline of the Dutch trading state overlapped, their analyses reflected different evaluations of the relationship between modern states and modern economic institutions (trading companies and public debts). The broader purpose of the article is to shed light on the distinctive theories of commerce and models of European development that informed the major works of Enlightenment historiography and political thought produced by Ferguson and Raynal in the 1760s and 1770s.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

History of European Ideas

ISSN

0191-6599

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

2

Volume

36

Page range

203-216

Department affiliated with

  • History Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-10-11

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