An Empire of Free Ports: British Commercial Imperialism in the 1766 Free Port Act

The Free Port Act of 1766 was an important reform in British political economy during the so-called imperial crisis between the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) and the American Revolution (1775–1783). In an explicit break from the letter if not the spirit of the Navigation Acts, the act opened six British ports in the West Indies (two in Dominica and four in Jamaica) to foreign merchants trading in a highly regulated number of goods subject to various duties. Largely understudied, this legislation has been characterized in most previous work on the subject as a fundamental break from British mercantile policies and meant to benefit North American colonial merchants. This article proposes a different interpretation. Based on the wider context of other imperial free port models, the loss of conquests such as French Guadeloupe and Martinique and Spanish Havana in the 1763 Paris Peace Treaty, a postwar downturn in Anglo-Spanish trade, and convincing testimonies by merchants and colonial observers, policy makers in London conceived of free ports primarily as a means of extending Britain's commercial empire. The free port system was designed to ruin the rival Dutch trade economically and shackle Spanish and French colonists to Britain's mercantile, manufacturing, and slaving economies. The reform marks a key moment in the evolution of British free trade imperial designs that became prevalent in the nineteenth century and beyond.

Colonial Land Distribution and the Structure of British Colonial Commerce

This chapter discusses land distribution in the British American colonies. British policy in the Americas was notable for its goal of putting land into cultivation and for offering small parcels of land to immigrants to achieve the goal. The chapter starts by outlining the structure of British colonial government. It goes on to describe the role of the colonies in the broader conception of Great Britain's commerce, and the legal regulation of colonial trade and credit relationships. Unlike the companies trading in the East, which had imported goods for which they knew a market existed, the companies operating in America had to discover and develop lucrative items for export. But the types of goods that appeared to be marketable, such as tobacco and rice, required labor. Laborers were initially recruited by means of indentured servant contracts, and later coerced by slavery. By 1660, the British government monopolized trade over its colonies in America. The British colonies were united by the reach of comprehensive trade regulations enacted to advance the mercantilist goal of improving England's (and Scotland's) balance of trade. The commercial regulations were enacted in piecemeal fashion and were often the product of highly contested political debate. They are, however, collectively referred to as the “Navigation Acts.”

Papists in Trouble, 1681–1688

This chapter describes developments in England and the colonies, as the Stuart kings passed Navigation Acts and built the infrastructure for Atlantic trade in people and commodities that would help them remain independent of Parliament. The opposition to them in Maryland took the form of anti-popery, for the Stuarts were Catholic-friendly. In Virginia, in the plant-cutting of 1682, desperate small farmers tried to systematically destroy tobacco crops to stop the glut that drove down prices and their income. Meanwhile the big planters enslaved more Africans and developed a philosophy of white supremacy to justify racial hierarchy. The rich grew richer.

Economics, Warfare, and the Sea, c.1650–1945

This chapter ranges over the full period considered in the book to exemplify a number of central themes in the relationship between economic activity and naval warfare. It looks particularly at the British experience, as Britain was the major naval power for much of these three centuries. The chapter examines matters such as the role of the Navigation Acts, naval blockades, convoy systems, and the stimulation to industry and agriculture provided by shipbuilding, naval armaments, and the supply of foodstuffs to ships’ crews.

Richard Burke and Grenada

Grenada was the most important of the new colonies in the Caribbean acquired by Britain in 1763. In 1764 Richard Burke was appointed Collector of Customs and Receiver of the Crown’s Revenue in the island, although he rarely resided there. These were contentious posts. The Collector of Customs had to curb trade outside the terms of the British Navigation Acts, while the Receiver was required to levy, without the consent of the elected assembly, old French taxes and a new British one, which was soon to be declared illegal by the British courts. Richard’s insistence that he handle all monies voted by the Assembly brought him into further conflicts with it. These conflicts between the prerogatives of the crown and claims to privileges by the assembly were similar to those being waged in North American colonies. While generally sympathetic to North American claims, Edmund staunchly supported his brother’s upholding the royal prerogatives. Richard also became mired in disputes with the customs authorities in Britain, who charged him with misappropriating public money. These issues were never fully resolved. Any gains that may have accrued from his offices are likely to have gone to his deputies; they certainly did not go to him. He ended his life in financial embarrassment.

Imperialne interpretacje rewolucji przemysłowej w Anglii

Imperialistic Interpretations of the Industrial Revolution in EnglandThe article briefly addresses some of the mistaken interpretations of the Industrial Revolution. In each session the following themes are shortly related to the industrial revolution: aristocracy, slavery, banking system and limited liability, public debt, navigation acts, foreign trade and colonies, and public debt. Last section points to the essence of the industrial revolution, which boils down to innovation implementations, beneficial to the massive consumers.

Navigation Acts and the integration of North Baltic shipping in the early nineteenth century

This article discusses how Navigation Acts affected shipping and commodity trade from and to the Northern Baltic during the early nineteenth century. We use Finnish shipping and foreign trade as an example of trade integration at the time. Finland can be used as a ‘laboratory case’ to study the importance of the Navigation Acts, as the eastern part of the area followed Russian legislation without the Navigation Act to restrict shipping to domestic vessels, while the western part followed Swedish legislation with strict protection through the Swedish version of the Act ( Produktplakat). The article argues that the role played by foreign vessels in shipments of Finnish export goods was far more significant during the period than has been noted before. Also, we argue that British shipping was of decisive importance in these trades, especially from the south-eastern parts of Finland, most notably the city of Vyborg. The literature so far has emphasised both endogenous causes (e.g. structural change in the Finnish economy, the role played by Swedish and Russian legislation in Finland) and exogenous causes (e.g. changes in British customs duties and the repeal of the Navigation Acts) for changes in shipping and trade patterns. Until recently, the big picture of this trade has been rather difficult to form due to shortcomings in the sources. This study overcomes these challenges by using both Danish Sound Toll data and local archival sources to trace patterns of trade.

Smuggling in Early America

Smuggling was a regular feature of the economy of colonial British America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Though the very nature of illicit commerce means that the extent of this trade is incalculable, a wide variety of British and colonial sources testify to the ability of merchants to trade where they pleased and to avoid paying duties in the process. Together admiralty proceedings, merchant correspondence and account books, customs reports, and petitions demonstrate that illicit trade enriched individuals and allowed settlers to shape their colonies’ development. Smuggling formed in resistance to British economic and political control. British authorities attempted to harness the trade of their Atlantic colonies by employing a series of laws that restricted overseas commerce (often referred to as the Navigation Acts). This legislation created the opportunity for illicit trade by raising the costs of legal trade. Hampered by insufficient resources, thousands of miles of coastline, and complicit local officials, British customs agents could not prevent smuggling. Economic self-interest and the pursuit of profit certainly motivated smugglers, but because it was tied to a larger transatlantic debate about the proper balance between regulation and free trade, smuggling was also a political act. Through smuggling colonists rejected what they saw as capricious regulations designed to enrich Britain at their expense.