586. Foreign countries of the greatest commercial importance to the United States.—An indication of the direction of commerce is furnished by the following table, showing the chief countries to and from which the United States shipped wares in 1790. Figures give the values in millions of dollars.
| Exports | Imports | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain and her dominions | 9.3 | 15.2 | |
| Including British West Indies | 2.0 | ||
| France and her dominions | 4.6 | 2.0 | |
| Including French West Indies | 3.2 | ||
| Spain and her dominions | 2.0 | .3 | |
| Including Spanish West Indies | .1 | ||
| The Netherlands and her dominions | 1.9 | 1.1 | |
| Including Dutch West Indies | .6 | ||
| Portugal and her dominions | 1.2 | .5 | |
The figures of imports are based on estimates, and no sum is given for the total amount of the year; the total exports were but slightly above twenty million, and countries the names of which do not appear received but insignificant amounts of our goods.
587. Insignificance of direct trade with Asia and Africa.—Some reasons for the direction of American commerce at this period will appear in the next chapter, in which the commercial policy of European countries will be discussed. I propose here merely to point out some of the striking facts shown by the table, and to indicate their connection with the development of American commerce in the colonial period.
Attention may be drawn, first of all, to the significance of omissions from the table. In the year in question the United States sent to the two great continents of Africa and Asia less than one third of a million dollars of exports. The imports, especially from Asia, were probably somewhat larger, for American vessels had begun to frequent the ports of East India and China, and to bring direct from them the rich cargoes which formerly had reached America through the hands of English middlemen. Still, any reasonable estimate of the trade with distant continents would leave it insignificant in comparison with the European trade, which formed the mainstay of American commerce.
588. Unique position of England in trade with the United States.—Of the European countries there was one which occupied a position of commanding prominence. Great Britain received of our goods more than all the rest of Europe together, and sent us of her own far more than all the other European states could supply. It is noteworthy, and was so regarded at the time, that this country, after a bitter struggle for political and commercial independence, and after having broken the bonds which were supposed to hold her in subjection to the English market, should voluntarily resume the trade relations which had formerly been considered so oppressive. The great amount of our trade with England is the more remarkable, as it covered a considerable amount of trade with other countries. England felt as yet no great need for our export products, and forwarded to other countries a considerable part of what she received. Of the imports which we received from England, on the other hand, while the greater part was doubtless the product of English manufacturing industry, there were many wares which came from other countries, but which we found could be purchased more conveniently in England than at the original place of production.
589. Commerce with the rest of Europe.—It was but natural that the United States should have a commerce of some importance with states like France and the Netherlands, which were still among the leaders; and it can only be regarded as surprising that this commerce was so small in comparison with that with England. Our trade with eastern Europe was carried on so largely through England that Germany and the Baltic countries would make but an insignificant showing if they were included in the table. Our trade with southern Europe, however, was evidently governed by other conditions. Portugal and Spain could furnish few desirable wares of their own production, except wine; the table shows that the imports from those countries were small. They offered, however, what we sought in vain in northern Europe, a ready market for our fish, cereals, and other foodstuffs, and were hence of great importance to our export trade. Commerce with the Mediterranean countries, which had been interrupted during the Revolution, had not since then been developed to any considerable proportions, because of the ravages of the Algerine pirates. These countries had formerly taken a quarter of our fish exports, and about one sixth of our wheat and flour shipments; and trade with them revived later when our navy had brought the pirates to terms.
590. Importance of the West Indies as an outlet for wares excluded from Europe.—A place of very peculiar importance in the commercial economy of the American people, in the colonial period and well past the time which we are now studying, was taken by the West Indian islands. Of the chief products of the United States those coming from the South, especially tobacco, were sure of a good market in Europe, and were a ready means of purchasing the manufactures which the people needed to import. The chief products of the North, however, including breadstuffs, provisions, and fish, enjoyed no such favorable reception. The statesmen of England and other countries clung still to the plan of protecting domestic agriculture by assuring it the home market, and desired to encourage domestic fisheries as a means of supporting the navy. In the colonial period, therefore, the staple products of the central and northern colonies were kept out of England and other states by heavy duties or by prohibitions. The people of those colonies, therefore, were at a great disadvantage in their trade with the mother country: they found it difficult to secure the means of paying for the English manufactures which they imported, and were forced to rely in some measure on the crude products of their own domestic manufactures, as described in a previous chapter.
591. Character of commerce with the West Indies; triangular trade.—The very products, however, which were rejected in Europe, were keenly desired in the West Indies. The islands had become the great source of the world’s sugar supply, and the advantages of sugar production, under the system of slave labor, were so great that planters neglected all other crops and did not produce even a sufficient amount of food for their laborers. They were eager to purchase food either by the direct exchange of sugar and molasses, or, what amounts to the same thing, by giving the seller bills on Europe drawn against sugar products shipped thither. They offered a ready market, therefore, for the wheat, flour, corn, meat, and fish of the mainland, and purchased also large quantities of lumber and shingles for building, staves for hogsheads, etc. The colonies of the mainland took in pay considerable amounts of sugar and molasses for their own use, and took molasses also for the manufacture of rum, of which part was exported. On the whole, however, the mainland exported to the islands more than it received from them, and had thus a credit balance with which it could liquidate its debts for European manufactures. The conditions thus gave rise to a triangular trade: the mainland shipped food and lumber to the West Indian islands; the islands shipped sugar products to Europe; and Europe shipped manufactures to the American mainland, thus closing the transaction. So strong was the economic demand for a trade of this description, that the attempts of European governments to check it had proved entirely unsuccessful in the colonial period; restrictions were evaded by smugglers or were openly defied. The problems of policy relating to this and other parts of the American trade after 1789 will be treated in the next chapter.
592. Development of ship-building in the colonial period.—A resource of the United States which deserves to be mentioned, before we close this survey of the conditions of commerce about 1789, was the building and sailing of ships. The colonies were at first dependent on the mother country for the vessels which they used. Most of the raw materials for ship-building were, however, abundant in America; and the construction of ships, unlike other manufacturing industries, was rather helped than hindered by British colonial policy, which put colonial vessels on the same footing as those which were built at home, and protected them from the competition of the ships of other countries. An active ship-building industry grew up, therefore, especially in New England, where ship timber of the finest quality was abundant, and where the difficulties of life and the discouragement of staple exports forced the people to make the most of every resource. A petition of Boston citizens in 1746 calls ship-building “the ancient and almost the only Manufacture the Town of Boston ever had.” In the Massachusetts towns a ship could be built of oak for $24 a ton, while in England, France, or the Netherlands an oak vessel cost $50 to $60 a ton, and even the fir vessels, built on the Baltic, inferior in strength and durability, cost $35 a ton. The colonies, therefore, could supply not only their own wants, but also could sell ships abroad; before the Revolution more than a third of British tonnage, it is said, was American built.