Measured against the immense business of modern times,colonial commerce seems perhaps trivial.That,however,is not the test of itssignificance.It must be considered in relation to the growth of English colonial trade in its entirety-a relation which can be shown by a few startling figures.The whole export trade of England,including that to the colonies,was,in 1704,6,509,000.On the eve of the American Revolution,namely,in 1772,English exports to the American colonies alone amounted to 6,024,000;in other words,almost as much as the whole foreign business of England two generations before.At the first date,colonial trade was but one-twelfth of the English export business;at the second date,it was considerably more than one-third.In 1704,Pennsylvania bought in English markets goods to the value of 11,459;in 1772the purchases of the same colony amounted to 507,909.In short,Pennsylvania imports increased fifty times within sixty-eight years,amounting in 1772to almost the entire export trade of England to the colonies at the opening of the century.The American colonies were indeed a great source of wealth to English merchants.
Intercolonial Commerce.-Although the bad roads of colonial times made overland transportation difficult and costly,the many rivers and harbors along the coast favored a lively water-borne trade among the colonies.The Connecti-cut,Hudson,Delaware,and Susquehanna rivers in the North and the many smaller rivers in the South made it possible for goods to be brought from,and carried to,the interior regions in little sailing vessels with comparative ease.Sloops laden with manufactures,domestic and foreign,collected at some city like Providence,New York,or Philadelphia,skirted the coasts,visited small ports,and sailed up the navigable rivers to trade with local merchants who had for exchange the raw materials which they had gathered in from neighboring farms.Larger ships carried the grain,live stock,cloth,and hardware of New England to the Southern colonies,where they were traded for tobacco,leather,tar,and ship timber.From the harbors along the Connecticut shores there were frequent sailings down through Long Island Sound to Maryland,Virginia,and the distant Carolinas.
Growth of Towns.-In connection with this thriving trade and industry there grew up along the coast a number of prosperous commercial centers which were soon reckoned among the first commercial towns of the whole Brit-ish empire,comparing favorably in numbers and wealth with such ports as Liv-erpool and Bristol.The statistical records of that time are mainly guesses;but we know that Philadelphia stood first in size among these towns.Serving as the port of entry for Pennsylvania,Delaware,and western Jersey,it had drawn within its borders,just before the Revolution,about 25,000inhabitants.Boston was second in rank,with somewhat more than 20,000people.New York,the “commercial capital of Connecticut and old East Jersey,”was slightly smaller than Boston,butgrowing at a steady rate.The fourth town in size was Charleston,South Carolina,with about 10,000inhabitants.Newport in Rhode Island,a center of rum manu-facture and shipping,stood fifth,with a population of about 7000.Baltimore and Norfolk were counted as “considerable towns.”In the interior,Hartford in Connecticut,Lancaster and York in Pennsylvania,and Albany in New York,with growing populations and increasing trade,gave prophecy of an urban America away from the seaboard.The other towns were straggling villages.Williamsburg,Virginia,for example,had about two hundred houses,in which dwelt a dozen families of the gentry and a few score of tradesmen.Inland county seats often consisted of nothing more than a log courthouse,a prison,and one wretched inn to house judges,lawyers,and litigants during the sessions of the court.
The leading towns exercised an influence on colonial opinion all out of proportion to their population.They were the centers of wealth,for one thing;of the press and political activity,for another.Merchants and artisans could readily take concerted action on public questions arising from their commercial operations.The towns were also centers for news,gossip,religious controversy,and political discussion.In the market places the farmers from the countryside learned of British policies and laws,and so,mingling with the townsmen,were drawn into the main currents of opinion which set in toward colonial nationalism and independence.
QUESTIONS
1.Is land in your community parceled out into small farms?Contrast the system in your community with the feudal system of land tenure.
2.Are any things owned and used in common in your community?Why did common tillage fail in colonial times?
3.Describe the elements akin to feudalism which were introduced in the colonies.
4.Explain the success of freehold tillage.
5.Compare the life of the planter with that of the farmer.
6.How far had the western frontier advanced by 1776?
7.What colonial industry was mainly developed by women?Why was it very important both to the Americans and to the English?
8.What were the centers for iron working?Ship building?
9.Explain how the fisheries affected many branches of trade and industry.
10.Show how American trade formed a vital part of English business.
11.How was interstate commerce mainly carried on?
12.What were the leading towns?Did they compare in importance with British towns of the same period?