Editing Daniel Defoe (section)

==== ''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/>