Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 5 (of 8): The English and French in North America 1689-1763
History
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 5 (of 8): The English and French in North America 1689-1763
America -- Discovery and exploration; America -- History; United States -- History
New Jersey had little Atlantic trade, since New York and Philadelphia
could import for her all the European and West India goods which she
needed. In intercolonial trade, however, she had a large share, and she
supplied her neighbors with cereals, beef, and horses. New York, on
the contrary, was sometimes pressed to prevent certain exportations,
when she needed all her productions herself, as was sometimes the case
with cereals. This intercolonial trade naturally grew in the main out
of the products of the several colonies; while for their Indian trade,
they were compelled to use what the avidity of the natives called
for,—blankets, weapons, rum, and the trinkets with which the Indian
was fond of adorning his person, and for all which he paid almost
entirely in furs. The nature of this traffic was such, particularly in
respect to the sale of arms and spirits, that legislation was often
interposed to regulate it in the interest of peace and justice.
As respects the illegal or last class of commercial channels, we find
that before Bellomont’s time there had grown up, as he found, “a
lycencious trade with pyrats, Scotland and Curaçao,” out of which no
customs revenue was obtained. As a consequence, the city and province
of New York “grew rich, but the customes, they decreased.” Certain Long
Island harbors became “a great Receptacle for Pirates.” The enforcement
of the law gave Bellomont a chance to say, in 1700, that an examination
of the entries in New York and Boston had shown him that the trade of
the former port was almost half as much as that of the other, while New
Hampshire ports had not the tenth part of New York, except in lumber
and fish. The Philadelphia Quakers objected to fight the West Indian
enemies of the crown; but they had little objection to trade with them,
and to grow rich on such more peaceful intercourse.
Towards the end of the period spoken of in this chapter, a “pernicious
trade with Holland” had sprung up, which the colonial governors found
hard to suppress, but which was successfully checked in 1764 by the
English cruisers; but shortly before the War of Independence it began
again to flourish.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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