Trading Spaces: The Colonial Marketplace and the Foundations of American Capitalism

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The book explores the transformation of the marketplace from a physical location to a conceptual framework that shaped the early American economy. Emma Hart highlights Britain's colonization of North America as pivotal in this evolution, leading to a more liberated form of capitalism. By examining various trading venues of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, such as shops and auction sites, Hart illustrates how these spaces fostered new trade practices and contributed to the development of a market economy resembling today's systems.