The Atlantic World between Markets and State in Eighteenth-century France: the Sephardic Firm Gradis in Bordeaux

Abstract The Gradis family is representative of eighteenth-century Bordeaux (and French) Atlantic shipping and trade. David Gradis (ca. 1665–1751) fitted out his first ships to the West Indies shortly after the French king opened participation in colonial trade to Bordeaux merchants in 1717. David, who had specialised in the textile trade, was one of the most distinguished members of the local Sephardic community. Like most contemporary merchants involved in trade on a large scale, David Gradis belonged to an international ethno-religious network that could support his business and facilitate his commercial success. In the subsequent years, the Gradis family spread around the Atlantic to optimise its commercial opportunities. This article retraces the rise and decline of the Gradis family in eighteenth-century Bordeaux to assess the opportunities the French empire offered to merchants. The first part presents the evolution of the firm over time and its decisive shift to colonial trade in the late 1710s. The second part shows how the Gradis took advantage of the opportunities offered by the French empire through trade, shipping, contracting, and banking. The last section stresses the difficulties merchants faced within the imperial system, the means they had to bypass restrictions, and the limits they faced.