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Colonial America time frame 1492-1763

Colonial America time frame 1492-1763

European nations came to the Americas to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs. The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in what is now the United States.

By 1650, however, England had established a dominant presence on the Atlantic coast. The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, Massachusetts, arrived in 1620. In both Virginia and Massachusetts, the colonists flourished with some assistance from Native Americans. New World grains such as corn kept the colonists from starving while, in Virginia, tobacco provided a valuable cash crop. By the early 1700s enslaved Africans made up a growing percentage of the colonial population. By 1770, more than 2 million people lived and worked in Great Britain's 13 North American colonies.

Discussion

In recent decades, a number of studies have examined the boundaries of accounting and its relationship with other disciplines ([Burchell et al., 1980], [Hopwood, 1983], [Hopwood, 1992], [Klamer and McCloskey, 1992] and [Miller, 1998]). Particular attention has been devoted to the interface between accounting and law because the law has had a “visibly significant influence on both accounting practice and thought” ([Napier and Noke, 1992], [Martens and McEnroe, 1991], [Martens and McEnroe, 1998], [Bromwich and Hopwood, 1992], [Freedman and Power, 1992], [Sugarman, 1995], [Walton, 1993], [Napier, 1998b], [Pong, 1999] and [Walker, 2004]). Prior research has advanced understanding of the respective roles of the two disciplines and its practitioners in reform of the social and economic spheres (Napier, 1998a) and has examined the subordinated status of accounting vis-à-vis law (Johnson, 1981). Studies indicate that the dominant position of law has not been stable over time and space. Indeed, “the emergence of accounting from under the wing of law can be seen as having given rise to numerous tensions” (Miller & Power, 1992, p. 232). Such tensions are not universal (Camfferman, 2007) and it is suggested that their investigation be conducted “by reference to nationally and historically-specific instances” (Miller & Power, 1992, p. 232).

In this paper we seek to extend knowledge of the interface between accounting and law by venturing into the field of international relations ([Carnegie and Napier, 2002] and [Richardson and MacDonald, 2002]). This is attempted by examining an historical episode which focuses on the role of accounting in treaty compliance and enforcement - a subject which merits greater attention in both the accounting and international relations literatures.

Our empirical focus is on the Asiento, the 18th century contract under which Britain was granted a monopoly to supply slaves to the Spanish colonies in Latin America. In particular, we analyse the period 1711-1739 which spans the negotiations preceding the Asiento treaty and the circumstances leading to the War of Jenkins' Ear between Britain and Spain. Our examination reveals the significance of various features of this time-space ...