Paragraph 1：Although the colonists of seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century British North America consumed most of the grain produced in the colonial economy, few households were self-sufficient. Instead, they traded with their neighbors for what they did not produce themselves. In any given year, farmers who produced more grain than they needed would exchange their surpluses locally with other farmers who had different surpluses, with local laborers who supported themselves by selling their labor, or with the local storekeeper, who might also be the miller (trade person who ground grain into flour). Satisfying the domestic demand for breadstuff, then, depended on trade between neighbors. The colonists recorded these myriad transactions as credits and debts in their individual account books. Debts and credits could remain outstanding for years before being settled. Trading based on book credit gave more value to maintaining equilibrium between local supply and demand and to preserving a cooperative spirit among neighbors than to expanding production beyond the immediate needs of the locality.
完整版题目和答案请付费后查阅
