This book aims to retrace the life and work of Pierre-Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, a multi-faceted man whose influence extended from the Parisian salons of the eighteenth century to the shores of the New World, by exploring the unique trajectory of his life, drawing on a wealth of documentation and contemporary accounts. From this individual study, it not only does justice to a man whose work and ideas continue to inspire academics around the world, but also explores a part of Franco-American history that is often overlooked.
Du Pont de Nemours is a well-known figure who has been the subject of numerous studies. Therefore, his hectic and tumultuous life has been the subject of several biographies, and he is best known for his membership in the 'sect of Economists' founded by Franēois Quesnay and the Marquis de Mirabeau in 1757. While significant, these studies are limiting in that they leave the ideas he defended and the actions he took in the political, administrative, and legal spheres still largely unknown. Consequently, this makes the originality of the present work twofold: it takes Du Pont de Nemours out of the realm of physiocratic studies to focus on his thought and action alongside removing him from the rut of the history of economic thought to expand into the history of law and socio-history of political ideas.
In light of Du Pont de Nemours' career, the volume adopts a bilingual approach and features essays in both English and French, in the aim of enabling readers to grasp the scope of Du Pont de Nemours' legacy, understand the challenges he faced, and appreciate the long-lasting contributions he made to modern society.
PREFACE | FOREWORD Anthony MERGEY & Arnault SKORNICKI | Introduction.
Pierre-Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, a Journey through the 18th Century
I. ACTION PUBLIQUE, BONHEUR PRIVÉ | PUBLIC ACTION, PRIVATE HAPPINESS Julia
ABRAMSON | Family Business at Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours & Cie.:
Huguenot Connections, Credit, and Capital in Post-Revolutionary France and
America
II. UN JURISTE EN ACTION | A LAWYER IN ACTION Jean-Baptiste MASMÉJAN | Du
Pont de Nemours et la question hospitaličre: un éclairage des enjeux
sanitaires ą la fin du dix-huitičme sičcle Sébastien LE GAL | Du Pont De
Nemours and the Maintenance of Public Order Thérence CARVALHO | *Abolir la
contrainte par corps: le combat du jurisconsulte Du Pont de Nemours *
III. UN PENSEUR POLITIQUE Ą LEPREUVE DE LA RÉVOLUTION ET DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE |
A POLITICAL THINKER CHALLENGED BY THE REVOLUTION AND THE REPUBLIC Thierry
DEMALS & Alexandra HYARD | Politique et économie politique chez Pierre-Samuel
Du Pont:Les annotations au Contrat social de Jean-Jacques Rousseau Christophe
LE DIGOL | From One World to Another. How Du Pont de Nemours became a
Revolutionary Liana VARDI | A Physiocratic Mandate: Du Pont de Nemours and
lHistorien Annie LÉCHENET | Du Pont de Nemours et la république des
propriétaires du sol
IV. GUERRE ET PAIX ENTRE NATIONS | WAR AND PEACE BETWEEN NATIONS Antonella
ALIMENTO | Commercial Treaties and the Emergence of a Political Economy of
Peace: Dupont de Nemours, Inspirer of the Eden Treaty and Supporter of the
Renewal of the Pacte de Famille (1782-1790) Alfred STEINHAUER |* Sur
lintérźt bien entendu des nations éclairées: la correspondance entre Thomas
Jefferson et Du Pont de Nemours ą propos de laffaire de la Louisiane *
Simona PISANELLI | Du Pont de Nemours: Colonies, Slavery and Economic Growth
V. LE RŹVE AMERICAIN DE DU PONT | DU PONTS AMERICAN DREAM Gabriel SABBAGH |
Du Pont de Nemours, coauteur des Lettres dAbraham Mansword (1771-1772) et
critique (1773-1789) de De Lolme: le modčle politique anglais confronté avec
une Amérique rźvée Aya TANAKA | Pontiana: Du Pont de Nemours's Physiocratic
Dream in America Manuela ALBERTONE | Des finances et des banques américaines:
autour des rapports entre Du Pont de Nemours et Thomas Jefferson
Anthony MERGEY & Arnault SKORNICKI | Du Pont de Nemours, between
Physiocratic Loyalty and Political Versatility
Arnault Skornicki is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Paris Nanterre and a member of the ISP. A specialist in the history of political and economic thought, he is currently completing a book on the "roi citoyen" in France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century. Anthony Mergey is a professor of legal history at Paris-Panthéon-Assas University and a member of the Institut d'histoire du droit. His research focuses primarily on the history of political ideas, the history of the state, and the history of administration in the 18th and 19th centuries.
