Three Consuls: Capitalism, Empire, and the Rise and Fall of America's Mediterranean Community, 1776-1840

For two generations after independence, Americans viewed the Mediterranean as the new commercial frontier. From common sailors to wealthy merchants, hundreds of Americans flocked to live and work there. Documenting the eventful lives of three American consuls and their families at the ports of Tangier, Livorno, and Alicante, Lawrence A. Peskin portrays the rise and fall of America's Mediterranean community from 1776 to 1840. We learn how three ordinary merchants became American consuls; how...