Knowledge and Use of Legal Processes

Talbott, Siobhan

Abstract

Commercial agents operated in peculiarly complex legal landscapes in the early modern British Atlantic world. As commercial worlds expanded, this complexity increased. This chapter explores how merchants educated themselves about legal processes and considers the information that influenced decisions about whether or not to pursue legal cases. It shows that merchants’ knowledge of ‘the law’ was not embedded in formal legal education, but in practical understandings of the ways in which justice operated in their commercial networks. While some merchants saw law courts as a last resort, others were prolifically litigious, and the context within which business took place was a highly influential factor on whether legal action was pursued. This chapter considers the role of arbitration, the rise in formal marine insurance as a legal mechanism, and the increasing use of legal instruments such as bills of exchange.

Citation

Talbott, S. (2025). Knowledge and Use of Legal Processes. In Knowledge, Information, and Business Education in the British Atlantic World, 1620–1760 (121-156). Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198926825.003.0005

• Acceptance Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Publication Date: Mar 13, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 27, 2025
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Pages: 121-156
• Book Title: Knowledge, Information, and Business Education in the British Atlantic World, 1620–1760
• Chapter Number: 4
• ISBN: 9780198926795
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198926825.003.0005
• Keywords: education, information, knowledge, news, Atlantic world, print, manuscript, orality, commerce, business
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1078493