' / 76 684 9 11

i vr- $383,422)

1 151,998

-759,990)

Total .... £2,623,412 6 3

13,117,061)

1 ' »year,theri rhen the commerce with the South of Europe is

ale, the balance of trade is in favor of the colonies.

ibly the case generally, for the colonies increased in wealth

which could not have been the result of year, ,,f traffic if

had been continually against them at a time when the home-



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 453

production of the precious metals was unknown. The difference between
the amount of exports to and imports from the South of Europe had to be
settled with hard money, and the nature of the coins which were freely
circulated in this country before the Revolution, and, indeed, until a com-
paratively recent date, is additional proof of the correctness of our theory.
Mention of the Portuguese "half-joe" will be found elsewhere [see Coins
AND Currency, p. 405]. In The British Empire in America, among the
coins current in the colonies we find " Spanish doubloons, pistoles, pieces-
of-eight [dollars] and Arabian ehequins," which appear in the Arabian
Nights as "sequins." When the Continental Congress promised to pay to
the holders of their money " Spanish milled dollars," they promised to pay
in a currency well known in America; and although much of it may have
come from the West Indies, the commercial statistics just given show an-
other route by which some of these coins may have come. It is true that
a large portion of this profit went into British pockets, but not all ; and
the extent of this trade is one of many proofs that the Navigation Act —
though Sir Josiah Child had said, " I am of opinion that in relation to
trade, shipping, profit and power it is one of the choicest and most prudent
acts that ever was made in England " — could not entirely shackle the
proper course of legitimate trade — i. e., of trade legitimate by the law not
of parliaments but of natural equity.

Such, then, was the commerce of the thirteen original colonies during
the first eight decades of the eighteenth century. The value of money
has changed, as we have already observed, but it has probably not more
than doubled. Many imported articles are cheaper than they were eighty
or a hundred years ago, and the average price of many others is but
slightly increased. Tea, for instance, was quoted at Philadelphia on the
5th of November, 1790, at 75 cents a pound for Souchong, and one dollar
for Hyson. If the reader will examine the current price of tea at the
time when he reads these words, he will probably find lower prices than
those given above, rather than higher, though we do not undertake to
state which variety will at that time be preferred by the public, or, at.
least, will bear the higher price; for several changes have been made in
that respect during the past fifteen years, owing either to the capricious-
ness of the consumers, or to the relative abundance or scarcity of tbe
crops, or to a combination of these causes. The total exports or imports
of the United States for one year at the present day will be found to
exceed in nominal value tbe exports or imports of the whole eighty years
in the above table ; and if we take the sum for two or three years, the real
value will probably be greater than that of the whole trade of the colonies
with every country during the period named. This wonderful prosperity
is not what was expected at the close of the Revolutionary war by the
majority of the people of Great Britain. Gloomy prophecies were freely



;:. I BUBLET'S UNITED STATES

made with reference to the future of the col nies, based upon the folly
which they had shown l>y withdrawing themselves from beneath the pro-
of the navigation acta. Ii was a natural result of the course
pursued by the patriots in attaining independence thai such prophecies
should be made; for when the colonists desired to make an impression
upon the mother-country they first made free us.- of petition, of remon-
gtrance and of appeal, but when those measures failed they formed non-
importation associations, knowing that anything which would affect the
tradi Great Britain unfavorably would be a severe blow. These were
at first local ; bul even a partial adherence to this plan of attack was found
to be bo beneficial that when the First Continental Congress mel at Phila-
delphia their attention was immediately given to this important matter.
As Mi. Everett says, "They began with a non-importation agreement
ly two years before the Declaration of Independence. This agree-
ment, with the exception of the addresses to the people of America and
Britain, was the only positive act of the First Congress that met at
Philadelphia in 1774, and is signed by every member of that body. The
detail- to whi.h it descends are lull of instruction." Though we have
, obliged t<> give some of these details elsewhere [see American
M \m i \< ruBEs], we present here a fuller summary, in which some mat-
will be ti»und repeated, and others, which helong properly only to the
province of manufactures, arc omitted. These fourteen articles, "under
of virtue, honor and love of country," pledged the members
of the Congress and their constituents "not to import, after the 1st of
I 1 ids whatever from Great Britain or Ireland, or British

Is from any place; not to import or purchase any -lave imported after
that time, after which they would wholly discontinue the slave-trade; not
to import or purchase Easl India tea; to request merchants, as soon as
hie, t" order their factor- in Greal Britain not to ship any goods to
them ..ii any pretence whatever; to discontinue and discourage every spe-

and dissipation, .-hows, plays, etc.; to use on funeral

iily a ribbon or piece of crape on the arm for gentlemen, and

a black ribbon and necklace for ladies, and to discourage the giving of

etc., al Funerals; it recommended vendors of goods not to

of the scarcity occasioned by the association to a.-k more

than t! ustomed to do; that L r Is imported after the l-t of De-

lu to be either reshipped or stored at the owner's until after the

raents ceased, or \«- -..Id and the owner reimbursed

â–  nd charges, the profits t" be devoted to the relief of the

13 '"ii nufl thai committees should he chosen in each county, city

, town to carry out the resolutions and reporl violations, and that the

ondence Bhould frequently inspect the custom-house

h Other of the Btate thereof; that all manufactures of the



CENTENffiAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 455

country should be sold at a reasonable rate, and that no trade, commercial
dealings or intercourse should be had with any colony or province which
did not accede to or should afterward violate the agreements, but they
should be held unworthy the rights of freemen, and as inimical to the
liberty of their country."

These stringent resolutions met with the unanimous approval of the
people, and committees of vigilance were formed in the several towns and
districts, "who published the names of those who did not carry out these
regulations as enemies of public liberty." All business dealings with
them were suspended, and resolutions similar to those of Congress were
adopted by twelve out of the thirteen Continental provinces, while all the
suggestions of what might almost be termed the National Assembly were
acted upon with strict fidelity to its directions. Ten of the colonies were
soon afterward interdicted by Parliament from all trade except that from
which they had voluntarily excluded themselves. The remaining prov-
inces (New York, North Carolina and Georgia) were excepted from the
restraints which were imposed upon all the rest. The governor of North
Carolina had held out to the administration the hope of retaining North
Carolina in obedience through a part of her own people — the Highlanders
of the old forty-seventh regiment — w r ho had settled there ; but the utmost
efforts of emissaries sent over to America could not entice them to the
royal standard. The Assembly of New York, by a majority of four, re-
fused to forbid importations, and this was accepted as a conclusive proof
that the province would adhere to the king. The royalists were again mis-
taken. The press of the patriots taunted those who had declined to support
Congress for taking gifts ; and when they would have permitted a ship to
discharge its cargo, the committee which had been appointed to carry out
the resolutions of Congress laughed at their vote and enforced the asso-
ciation. The New York merchants who furnished supplies to the British
army at Boston were denounced at the liberty-pole as enemies to their
country. When Riviugton's Gazette quoted texts of Scripture in favor of
passive obedience, Holt's Journal replied by other texts and examples.

It is difficult for us, at the present day, to realize the sweeping effect of
the measures adopted by Congress upon the commerce of the colonies.
Cut off from importation, and without an adequate supply of goods from
the products of home manufactures, the American merchant was indeed
in a deplorable condition. How long patriotism, unaided by the excite-
ment of war, would have availed to restrain even those who were on the
side of liberty from breaking these rules it is equally difficult to determine,
nor is it necessary for our purpose. The battles of Lexington and Bunker
Hill — the Declaration of Independence — the hand-to-hand struggle to
make that Declaration valid and to secure for Columbia a place in the
family of nations, — these intervened, and that which had been begun in



BUBLEY'S UNITED STATES

the interests of patriotism was continued from dire necessity. Add to all

other troubli caused by a depreciated currency, and the outlook of

tho» in trade in this country during the Revolutionary war

gloomy. Still, they were not dismayed. Here and there

one was found who (thinking that the royal rule would be comparatively

eful and stable gave aid and comfort to the enemies of freedom, or,

worn still, who speculated upon the distresses of his country, and sought

to draw from the Continental treasury, never too well replenished, "prices

that a usurer blushes to extort;" but the majority of the merchants of

America w< re true to themselves and to their country during the time that

and the privations which they endured, if fully chron-

.. would doubtless furnish instances of heroism equal to any recorded

hose « ho went into the field.

Lord Sheffield's Observations on American Com-
merce, -The chief spokesman for those who considered the commerce
of America ruined by the achievement of independence was one of those
officious friends who delight in making croaking prophecies, and whose
itesl delight is to Bee such prophecies fulfilled. "We refer to Thomas
ii ;. afterward Lord Sheffield, who published in 1783 a pamphlet

entitled Observations <>n the Commerce of the American States. From this
book, as it i.- comparatively rare, we shall now make some extract- which
will give the reader an opportunity to judge of the effect of passion and
idice upon the mind- of a people whose boast it is that they are "lovers
of fair play." We saj of a p< ople, for Lord Sheffield's work was considered
by the British people generally as an unanswerable combination of facts
and of reasoning. Coze, at the beginning of his reply, say.-: "The facts
and observations of this writer have, in the opinion of many of his country-
men, so firmly endured the touchstone of experience that an attempt to
nonstrate errors in both may appear to deserve little attention." He
evidently felt that he was addressing a jury whose mind- were completely
. by the arguments of the prosecuting attorney.
In the very first sentence of his plea, Lord Sheffield complains that the
â– â– ii Act itself, the guardian of the prosperity of Great Britain, had
. "almost abandoned by the levity or ignorance of those who have
..miii' d the Bpirit or consequence of ancient rules. By
• ir independence the Americans have renounced the privileges
the duti British subjects. If in some instances, as in the

their carrying trade, they feel the inconvenience of their choice,
m "o longer complain. The British merchant alone is able and
: that liberal credit [to the Americans] which must be ex-
competitors by the rashness of their early ventures. They
will toon du that America has neither moneynor sufficient produce

trn, and cannot have for BOme time'; and not intending or



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 457

being able to give credit, their funds will be exhausted, their agents will
never return, and the ruin of the first creditors will serve as a lasting warn-
ing to their countrymen. The solid power of supplying the wants of Amer-
ica, of receiving her produce and of waiting her convenience belongs almost
exclusively to our own merchants." Our author then takes up particular
articles of export and import, in treating of which he is obliged to make
some humiliating admissions, as, for instance, the following: "As to wool-
lens, at present, we have lost the clothing of the Russian army by abuses
in the manufacture, especially by overstretching the cloth, the consequence of
which is shrinking extremely when worn." This admission agrees with
the assertion of Bingham, "It is well known that many of the coarse kinds
of stuffs made at Norwich, Coventry, Spitalsfields and other [British] fac-
tories are shamefully deficient in length, whilst the Dutch, Flemish and
French usually give a generous surplus in their measures." The reader
will also be reminded of the recent developments with reference to the
measure of spool-cotton at Manchester, England, and the statement of a
correspondent of a Manchester newspaper that it was impossible, on account
of the "tricks of the trade," for a man to be a consistent Christian and to
be at the same time successful in carrying on any branch of the manufac-
ture of cotton goods at Manchester. A recent writer cites another case in
point, as follows: "The Lancashire cotton manufacturers often used an
inferior cotton staple, and worked in large quantities of clay to give body
to the goods. Of course the clay came out with the first washing ; and
at length the natives of India, learning wisdom from being continually
cheated, refused to buy any goods of English make. The loss of the whole
East India trade was threatened. The London Times sounded the note of
warning, not on the ground of pity for the victims who had thus spent their
hard earnings for a useless article, but on account of the sacrifice which
would be involved in the loss of the trade."

Speaking of wines, his lordship says : " Every attempt to make wine in
America has failed. The great heat and rains are supposed to cause such
a luxurious vegetation that the grapes burst before they are ripe." In a
note to the second edition he adds : " Others say that the trials have not
been fair; that there have been no attempts to plant vineyards and to
make wines except by private gentlemen for their own consumption ; and
that the reason why the people have not attempted to make vineyards is
because the ground with easy cultivation produces an immediate profit, and
it takes six or seven years to bring a vineyard to yield any considerable
profit." The italics in the above quotation are ours, and we shall have
occasion to refer to this statement hereafter. Speaking of " Geneva," he
says: "This article is in less demand than brandy, and will be imported
from Holland. It may soon be made in America, being distilled from rye."

The point concerning which Lord Sheffield shows the greatest anxiety



158 BURLET'S UNITED STATES

is the credit of the Americans. In the midst of his enumeration of com-
modities he Btops to say: "The American States are in greater want of
credit at this time than at former periods. The French who gave them
credit are all bankrupts. French merchants in general cannot give much
credit : many principal commercial houses in France have been ruined by
it. The Dutch have not trusted the Americans to any amount, and will
mil. It is not their custom to give credil but On the best security. It is
tin i> fore obvious from this ami the above state of imports into what chan-

the commerce of the American States must inevitably flow, and that

Iv four-fifths of their importations will be from ( rreat Britain directlv.

II - eies are nearly equal, the superior credit given by England will

Uu />r> . and it is probable that many foreign articles

will go t" America through 6rea1 Britain." In other words, this country

entirely at the mercy of England on account of the lowness of our
credit elsewhere. We dmuld be obliged to thankfully take "on trust"'
whatever the generous British merchant would graciously condescend to
sell to u-, without examining too closely the quality or (in anything stretch-
able, as, for instance, woollens) the quantity of the goods. He then takes
ii|> the trade in flour and wheat, stating with evident satisfaction that,

epting the instance of three or four years, there never was any market
in Europe for the wheat and wheat-flour of America, except in Spain,
Portugal and the ports of the Mediterranean." From Canada, in 1774,
"vast quantities of both winter and summer wheat were exported, not less
than live hundred thousand bushels." Within seven years after the pub-
lication of these remarks, in the very fust return made after the adoption
of tin- Federal Constitution, appears the item of 1,124,458 bushels of wheat
exported from tin- United States during a period of less than fourteen
months, extending from some day in August, 17*9, to October 1,1790.
1 1 lordship's attention is now turned to the tobacco-trade. This was a
• for the meditatii 1' the British merchant, for before the

ilution "this capital article was exported from Virginia and Maryland

Britain only, where [after paying to His Majesty a heavy duty]

was Borted and re-exported unmanufactured, except a small quantity.

'Hi.- i \ p. nation qow being five to every part [much to the disgust of the
di ne rchant ]. it remain- to he determined bv experience whether it

>" r '' advai to transport it to every country where it is con-

-'""" i Bret to one general market to meet the purchasers.

ca will not afford her tobacco so cheap to France as the latter got it

through British contractors before the war." The annoyance which will

• the French by the fulfilment of this prophecy gives the patri-

Sheffield great delight He adds, In a note: "Prance will be very

much disappointed. The cultivation of tobacco has ben greatly inter-

mi.I it will never be BOgreal as it has been. There has been and



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 459

will be a considerable emigration from the tobacco country. The lands
wear out. Better land beyond the mountains may be got very cheap and
free from taxes. Other kind (sie) of farming is preferred." Having thus
( settled the affairs of Maryland and Virginia, he turns his attention to New
England, manifesting that kindly interest which is apparent in every por-
tion of this pamphlet. " It is difficult to see what advantage the New
England States will derive from the independence and separation from this
country. Such lights as we have point out that it must be ruinous to
them, and that nothing could be more to their advantage than to become
again part of the empire. It is not obvious where they will find a market
for their shipping, lumber and the produce of the whale-fisheries (and they
had no other trade of any consequence except salt fish) in the place of the
markets of the West Indies, Great Britain and Ireland." A little further
on, "such lights" as his lordship possessed are brought to bear upon the
matter of salted meats, butter, etc. Before the Revolution, " No quantity
of beef was exported from any colony but Connecticut. There is but bttle
in Virginia. The beef in the provinces south of Pennsylvania is not good.
Connecticut supplied more than all the other American States. The banks
of the Ohio and 31isxi.ssi.ppi may in future supply beef for exportation, and
Vermont also, but principally through Canada. American beef does not
keep so well as the Irish. Salt hardens it and eats up the fat. As to
pork, the Carolinas raise such a prodigious quantity of hogs, and can feed
them at so little expense, that pork may be afforded there one-third cheaper
than from England or Ireland. Not long since butter was imported into
New York from Ireland; but before the [Revolutionary] war began
New York exported butter to the West Indies. However extraordinary
it may appear, it is, however (sic), true that notwithstanding tallow is the
natural produce of the Northern States of America, it has been and may
be exported from Russia and sold as cheap as that raised in the country,
leaving a considerable profit to the importer." Yet, in the return of
exports to which we have already had occasion to refer, we find entered,
"Beef, 44,662 barrels; value, $279,551; butter, 8379 firkins; value,
$48,587; tallow, 200,020 pounds; value, $20,722." " Peas, which may be
made a substitute for rice or Indian corn, are cheaper in Canada than in
any part of the American States, where they are only raised in the prov-
ince of New York and in the Jerseys. Though perhaps there may not be
a sufficient quantity raised in Canada to supply any great demand at
present, there may be soon. There is no bug in that country; but peas
planted in other parts of the continent except about Albany are devoured
by bugs or flies." How correct this statement was can be seen by an ex-
amination of the return of exports from the United States for the year
ending September 30, 1791. New York exported one-sixth of the whole
quantity of peas and beans (which are put together), New Jersey none,



BUBLErS UNITED STATES

and Virginia furnished more than twice as much, and North Carolina

|y iwice as much, as New "V ork.

I! a lordship took it for granted thai Florida, Louisiana and the country

\; ppi would never belong to us, and says: "Those who

i to 'I- spond may comfort themselves with the prospect

t l,. lt \ an States Bhould hereafter be able to manufacture for

then as the consumption of the manufactures of England decreases

with them the demand will increase elsewhere. They [the despondent

-1, merchants] will for ages go up the Mississippi and river St. Law-

,,| by means of a most extraordinary inland navigation supply

infinitely greater and more fertile [our present Western States]

capable of a greater degree of population than the American States,

full of river- Davigable to their sour© — a country four times as large as

the American States [which has been] most unnecessarily and most

iven up [by Great Britain], and most unexpectedly by the

themselves, which < longress neither has been nor will be capable

nntrolling, and which, probably, will divide into many independent gov-

||, dow speaks of emigration : "If manufacturers should emi-

firom Europe to America, al least nine-tenths will become farmers;

they will not work at manufactures when they can get double the profit

-in a country, he it remembered, where "the ground with

cultivation produces an immediate profit;" and yet our author say.-:

"Tin rants from Europe to the American States will be miserably

disappointed; however, having got into a scrape, they may wish to lead

othei them. When the numberless difficulties of adventurers and

Btrangers are surmounted, they will find it necessary to pay taxes, to avoid

which, probably, they lefl home, ami, in the case of Britons, gave up great

advantages. The absolute necessity of great exertion.- of industry and

toil added to the want of opportunity of dissipation in the solitary life of

lers, ami the difficulty ami shame of returning home, alone support

the in if. They find their golden dream ends, at most, in the possession

f wild, uncultivated land, subject, in many cases, to the inroads

the proper and more amiable owner.-, the Indian-." Having thus used

hi- best efforts to check the tide of emigration, his lordship has a plan or

offer tor tin' benefit of the despondent British merchant: "II' we

;i in place of our revolted colonies, and give her products the

we allowed to theirs, she can 1 f infinitely more use to us

than tl She will COSl US much less. She will al-o pay for

in half the time. Tht long credit given in Aim rim ruined

ntry, •mil madt bankrupts of almost three fourths of the

I <n trading in Amei Why, then, should the British

I fiit at tlw loss of 80 risky a trade? Why should