12. Prepare a written summary of the results of the French wars of the eighteenth century. [Adams, Growth, chap. 14.]
13. Prepare a graphic chart from the table of figures, sect. 277, as suggested above in the case of England, and study the conclusions to be drawn from figures and chart.
14. Combine the charts for England and for France, and draw conclusions from the comparison. Endeavor, if possible, by extending your reading, to settle the questions which this comparison will suggest. Note, however, that the figures refer to different dates, that they are a far less accurate index of the facts than you would suppose, and, finally, that the reduction to modern currency is very rough.
15. Write a report on the history and commerce of one of the following West India islands under French rule: (a) San Domingo, (b) Guadeloupe, (c) Martinique. [Encyclopedia; Homans’ Cyc. of commerce; C. B. Norman, Colonial France, or Bryan Edwards’ History, if that book is available.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Of the general works on French history, Adams, **Growth of the French nation, is excellent.
Of the works on particular periods all the books of James Breck Perkins can be highly recommended for the attention paid to economic conditions; I refer above only to the small book on Richelieu. See the A. L. A. Catalogue for titles of others. Paul Lacroix, The XVIIIth century, London, no date, is a popular illustrated work, with a chapter on commerce, of no great importance. Books discussing the conditions leading to the French Revolution are valuable for the light they throw on the organization of France in the period of modern history. Books by Taine, E. J. Lowell, and R. H. Dabney will be useful in this connection; and vol. 4, no. 5, of the Univ. of Penn. Translations (Typical Cahiers of 1789) is a convenient selection from sources.
A bibliography of French colonial history in America will be found in the Guide of Channing and Hart, in the Cambridge mod. hist., vol. 7, pp. 766-771, or in R. G. Thwaites, France in America, N. Y. Harper, 1905. The last named book is not so serviceable for purposes in view here as others in the same series; and the student will turn by preference to Cambridge mod. hist., vol. 7, chap. 3, where the subject of the French in America (1608-1744) is treated by Miss Mary Bateson, with due regard to economic interests. Of Parkman’s works see especially The old régime, Boston, Little, 1902, $2. Norman, Colonial France, London, 1886, covers briefly the history of all the French colonies; the French West Indies are included in A. K. Fiske. S. L. Mims, Colbert’s West India policy, New Haven, 1912, is a scholarly study of a particular topic.
CHAPTER XXV
FRANCE: POLICY
280. History of the French customs tariff.—After this survey of the development of French commerce we can gain an appreciation of the opportunities for still greater growth that were lost, by considering the obstacles with which the merchant had to contend.