Editing Daniel Defoe (section)

=== Late writing ===
The extent and particulars are widely contested concerning Defoe's writing in the period from the Tory fall in 1714 to the publication of ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'' in 1719. Defoe comments on the tendency to attribute tracts of uncertain authorship to him in his apologia ''Appeal to Honour and Justice'' (1715), a defence of his part in Harley's Tory ministry (1710–1714). Other works that anticipate his novelistic career include ''The Family Instructor'' (1715), a conduct manual on religious duty; ''Minutes of the Negotiations of Monsr. Mesnager'' (1717), in which he impersonates [[Nicolas Mesnager]], the French plenipotentiary who negotiated the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] (1713); and ''A Continuation of the [[Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy]]'' (1718), a satire of European politics and religion, ostensibly written by a [[Muslim]] in Paris.

[[File:Daniel Defoe monument Bunhill Fields.jpg|thumb|upright|Memorial to "Daniel De-Foe", [[Bunhill Fields]], [[City Road]], [[Borough of Islington]], London]]

From 1719 to 1724, Defoe published the novels for which he is famous (see below). In the final decade of his life, he also wrote conduct manuals, including ''Religious Courtship'' (1722), ''The Complete English Tradesman'' (1726) and ''The New Family Instructor'' (1727). He published a number of books decrying the breakdown of the social order, such as ''The Great Law of Subordination Considered'' (1724) and ''Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business'' (1725) and works on the supernatural, like ''[[The Political History of the Devil]]'' (1726), ''A System of Magick'' (1727) and ''An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions'' (1727). His works on foreign travel and trade include ''A General History of Discoveries and Improvements'' (1727) and ''Atlas Maritimus and Commercialis'' (1728). Perhaps his most significant work, apart from the novels, is ''[[A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain]]'' (1724–1727), which provided a panoramic survey of British trade on the eve of the [[Industrial Revolution]].

==== ''The Complete English Tradesman'' ====
Published in 1726, ''The Complete English Tradesman'' is an example of Defoe's political works. In the work, Defoe discussed the role of the [[Merchant|tradesman]] in England in comparison to tradesmen internationally, arguing that the British system of trade is far superior.<ref name=defoe1/> Defoe also implied that trade was the backbone of the [[Economy of the United Kingdom|British economy]]: "an estate's a pond, but a trade's a spring."<ref name="defoe1">{{cite book |last=Defoe |first=Daniel |title=The complete English tradesman, in familiar letters .. |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.0112322717 |publisher=Printed for George Ewing |publication-place=Dublin |year=1726 |oclc=36869195 |page=[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.0112322717?urlappend=%3Bseq=399%3Bownerid=27021597768393345-419 375]}}</ref> In the work, Defoe praised the practicality of trade not only within the economy but the social stratification as well. Defoe argued that most of the British [[gentry]] was at one time or another inextricably linked with the institution of trade, either through personal experience, marriage or genealogy.<ref name=defoe1/> Oftentimes younger members of noble families entered into trade, and marriages to a tradesman's daughter by a [[nobleman]] was also common. Overall, Defoe demonstrated a high respect for '''tradesmen''', being one himself.

Not only did Defoe elevate individual British tradesmen to the level of [[gentleman]], but he praised the entirety of British trade as a superior system to other systems of trade.<ref name=defoe1/> Trade, Defoe argues, is a much better catalyst for social and economic change than war. Defoe also argued that through the expansion of the [[British Empire]] and British mercantile influence, Britain would be able to "increase commerce at home" through job creations and increased [[Consumption (economics)|consumption]].<ref name=defoe1/> He wrote in the work that increased consumption, by laws of supply and demand, increases production and in turn raises wages for the poor therefore lifting part of British society further out of poverty.<ref name=defoe1/>