Abstract:

The English Bourgeois Revolution was not only a political upheaval, but also an economic and social transformation that significantly impacted the modern English company system. The principle of parliamentary sovereignty established by the revolution infl uenced the development of the company system, transforming the modern English company from a "child of the king" to a "child of the nation", shifting control of corporate property rights from the sovereign to parliament, and the basis of corporate participation from limited membership to equal capital access, while also strengthening and broadening corporate personhood. After the Revolution, English corporations became the major platforms for the integration of domestic capital, and major protagonists in the control of foreign and domestic markets, the consolidation of capitalist politics, and the colonialist policies of aggression, expansion and plunder.

Published on Historical Research, Issue 4, 2024.