Article Analysis Success And Failure In Trade To New France
Article Analysis
To complete this assignment, choose one of the following articles (both articles are assigned readings
for this course (see Course Outline below) and are available through course reserves):
a) Julian Gwyn, “Shipping to the Caribbean in the 1820s-1840s: William Roche, Halifax Merchant,”
Northern Mariner 2013 23, 2: 99-122
b) J.F. Bosher, “Success and Failure in Trade in New France 1660-1760," French Historical Studies 1988
15 (3): 444-461.
For the article analysis, the student is required to read and summarize a scholarly article from
the course readings and explain the relevance of the article’s content to the study of business history.
The purpose of the assignment is to have the student discern (and thus summarize) the main
issue/question under investigation, the thesis (main argument) of the author, and the main points of
argument used to support the thesis and then explain how the article contributes to the analysis (and
understanding) of the topics covered in the course and lecture for which it was assigned.
The assigned articles examine a major issue, topic or person in business history. The assignment
has two parts.
First, the assignment must begin with a one-page summary of the article. The summary must
outline: 1) the major issue/debate in business history which the article addresses; 2) the thesis of the
article; and 3) the main points/ideas the author uses to defend his/her thesis.
The second part of the assignment is a two-page analysis/discussion of how the article relates or
adds insight in to the business history topic under examination. Students should ask themselves “how
does this article add additional information or interpretation to compliment, or perhaps contradict, the
information being presented in class/lectures?” In order to do so, students should examine one or more
of the following questions:
1) Is the author offering a new/different interpretation of the issue than presented in other course
materials or in the lectures? (for example, by examining different evidence or by using a different
method of examining the issue).
2) Does the author offer new ideas, points of information, or interpretations that compliment or
contradict the material being presented in class?
3) How does the article further develop your understanding of the main topic or businessperson under
study?
The assignment must be a total of 3 pages in length, double-spaced with a standard character
size and font. Students are not to exceed the 3 page length. The purpose of the assignment is twofold:
first, to have the student recognize and understand the argument of a scholarly article and to assess the
content within the larger course themes and issues; secondly, the assignment is a writing exercise which
requires students to be both concise but also comprehensive.
Article Analysis
Student’s Name
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Instructor’s Name
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Article Analysis
This paper analyzes an article titled Success and failure in trade to New France, by John F. Bosher. The thesis of the article is “no concrete evidence points out one exact cause for financial ruin.” Bosher begins by asserting that France and New France were commercially linked. New France was not self-sufficient – house-ware, hardware, flour, grain, and other food items had to be shipped over (Bosher, 1988, pg. 444). The incentive for merchants was, of course, private profit – they always had financial benefits in mind. Despite their desire for financial benefits, they experienced fifty-eight bankruptcies between the years 1660 and 1760 (Bosher, 1988, pg. 445).
Bosher gives several reasons for failure in trade to New France. First is the great crash which affected a large circle of investors and other creditors (Bosher, 1988, pg. 445). Second Bosher cites Jacques Savary’s manual which asserts that the ambition, imprudence, ignorance, lack of experience in trade, need for partial education, and great spending, of the merchants resulted in failure. They also did not accept their weaknesses and put the blame on external factors such as wartime loses of cargos and ships (Bosher, 1988, pg. 456). Bosher proceeds to add reasons for failure stating that the trade based on the system of credit, the continual difficulty of not knowing how much time to give a debtor, the consistent blame placed on debtors in France (who were also bankrupt) as well as French banks.
Bosher asserts that the reasons for the merchants’ success were that they concealed all businesses (not only losses). They avoided publishing facts that might spoil the impression of prosperity and soundness (Bosher, 1988, pg. 454). They tried to pay debts when due and meet other obligations to maintain their reputation (Bosher, 1988, pg. 455). The merchants tried to accumulate as many assets and money as possible. Another reason for their success is that they relied on five types of collective arrangements including partnership/company, collective/union, family, the almighty God (Bosher, 1988, pg. 455).
In summation to Bosher’s article, he asserts that the right social stature or religious association could have indisputably influenced prosperity. In his fifty-eight bankruptcy cases, he argues that there is no explicit evidence that singles out one exact cause for financial ruin. It seems that a majority of the time it was because of unpr...
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