Abstract
Nantes, the first port of the French slave trade in the eighteenth century, was one of the leading international commercial cities of the kingdom. A 1969 article by Jean Meyer used the role des classes (register of sailors), which is now classified as armement (declaration of ship outfitting) to analyze late eighteenth century trade, showing the development of the slave trade, the stable growth of the European coastal trade and the direct trade with Antilles. Later scholars have followed Meyer's interpretation, and have also listened to his warning that a serious lack of records for the early eighteenth century limited the possibilities for research on that earlier period. This paper aims to fill in that gap in our understanding of the trade history of Nantes by quantifying and analyzing records in the Directory of Declaration of Ship Outfitting 1694-1744, held in the Departmental Archives of Loire-Atlantique. The results of my analysis clarify the central sphere of maritime trade by Nantes in the first half of the eighteenth century and suggest prospects for future historical study.
