Abstract
This paper considers the political consequences of the dramatic expansion of British overseas trade beginning in the late 16th century. Using an original individual-level dataset on the characteristics of Members of Parliament in England and Wales spanning two centuries (1550-1750), I systematically evaluate the extent to which the growth of the Atlantic economy shifted the economic and social characteristics of political representatives, and how parliamentary supremacy after 1688 conditioned those shifts. I find that while MPs involved in the growing commercial sector differentially entered Parliament in those constituencies most affected by expanding trade, there was no associated turnover in the social and family backgrounds of representatives. New sources of economic power found political representation, but economic growth deriving from trade was not associated with a broader opportunity structure of politics, more generally — even after the Glorious Revolution. These results accord with the notion that economic development can reinforce oligarchic political organization, rather than expanding political opportunities to new groups.