Natchez in the Early American Economy

In the 1790s, every spring saw thousands of river boatmen flooding into Natchez carrying the flour, pork, and whiskey of the Ohio River Valley. Natchez merchants carved out a vital role as intermediaries, linking the nation’s interior with the broader Atlantic world. Though located well inland, Natchez became an essential hub in global trade networks, tying the expanding American frontier to international markets.

Speakers Expertise:

Dr. Susan Gaunt Stearns is an associate professor of history at the University of Mississippi. She currently teaches courses on US history, the history of the colonial and Revolutionary era America, the history of Mississippi, as well as graduate courses on historical methods and teaching history. Her research focuses on western expansion and its relationship to the creation of the United States and the development of the American and global economies. Her book, Empire of Commerce: The Closing of the Mississippi and the Opening of Atlantic Trade, received Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History’s book prize for 2024. She is currently working on a book examining the history of Memphis from pre-history to the American Revolution.