For the Love of Profit : Examining Traditional Capitalism on Eagles Island, North Carolina

Abstract

As European colonists first arrived in the North American colonies, they brought with them the nascent principles of capitalism. Since then, the theories and practices regarding capitalism have changed, going through phases that are potentially manifested in the archaeological record. Eagles Island, North Carolina, has been home to a historically important maritime industrial complex that has experienced the changes of capitalism, beginning as an agricultural economy, then adapting to the region's growing maritime needs, and now presently as a service economy. Only by performing historical and archaeological explorations of Eagles Island can we fully understand the phases of capitalism and the motivations that brought upon the economic changes.