ABSTRACT
Bristol’s economic position was based on maritime trade and commerce. Unlike many other West Country towns, it was not an administrative centre. Before the discoveries in the New World, its growth and prosperity depended on its geography: the safety of its natural river harbour and the steepness of its surrounding hills ensured the security of shipping from bad weather and other hazards. In early modern times, Bristol exported nished cloth and soap from its immediate hinterland, importing sweet Spanish wines, and trading with the Canary Islands, through which dyes, drugs, sugar and kidskins were imported from further aeld. From the mid-sixteenth century, its trade with the Mediterranean, privateering, and the beginnings of its trafc with Africa were all established. By the end of the seventeenth century, its main imports were sugar and tobacco from the West Indies, and together with the supply of slaves from West Africa to those colonies in the Caribbean, this formed the core of Bristol’s wealth.
