The history of Plymouth in the wider world

Welcome to my blog! Here I will post a series of articles looking at the place of Plymouth and its history in the wider Atlantic world. There are, of course, a number of excellent websites and books that already tell the history of Plymouth. From the work of Chris Robinson, and others, Plymouthians are well served with accounts of their own history. However, these works are often local in their outlook. They focus on individual stories from Plymouth. The rise of Great Britain, the British Empire, and the frequent wars with continental rivals that dominate our island history often serve only to drive forward events within Plymouth, or as context. It will be my assertion in this blog, on the contrary, that another way to understand the history of the city is to look at its place within the Atlantic world. This wider view, I contend, will demonstrate both how Plymouth’s history was shaped by events in the wider world, but also how Plymouth and Plymouthians were active players in that wider history.

Let us pause a minute to consider what I mean by Atlantic history. Atlantic history is an academic area that has proved particularly popular in the United States. Historians who investigate this area have explored the growth of the maritime empires of Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Britain over the course of the early modern period. They look at the connections which unite the European powers, with the Atlantic coast of Africa and North and South America. The sea lanes that connected this vast geographical area allowed the shipment of goods, people, slaves, and ideas. It was on European ships that christianity, republicanism, and whole host of other ideas were transported. At the same time the imperial systems that were established directly affected those back at home both in terms of the increased range of products that were now available and through exposure to foreign cultures. A key component in the Atlantic system was sailors, who would often learn African and native American languages, and frequently provided a route for revolutionary and rebellious ideas to spread around the Atlantic littoral. Plymouth, of course, was a port where many of those sailors would wind up, and the cities history would be directly shaped by its place in this larger international system. Atlantic history, therefore, provides the historian with the ability to take a bird's eye view of the connection between events over a wide geographical area and over the long duration, at the same time it encourages one to focus in on local history and its place in the wider world.

The role of Plymouth in the Empire, the navy, the slave trade, commerce, discovery, and many other topics, will all be covered in due course in this blog. These topicswill be explored through particular historical examples. Over the coming months, I will post a number of articles that will focus on particular events such as wars, Revolutions, and the like. We will begin with how Plymouth suddenly found itself on the front line during the American War of Independence and what this meant for the people of Plymouth.