George I became King of England in 1714. Three years later, he asked for a report on the amount of trade with the "plantations". This was an important question for him, because the government collected monies as custom fees. The plantation with the largest export trade to Great Britain was Barbados, but Jamaica was not far behind this. Virginia and Maryland, as a combined unit, were in third place. Fourth place went to Antigua.
What was imported from the Continental plantations? The biggest item was tobacco, of which Virginia was the leading producer. About two-thirds of the exports from the Continental plantations consisted of tobacco. On a yearly basis, the value of the tobacco was approximately 235,000 pounds Sterling, which is to be compared to the total for all items of about 380,000 pounds Sterling.
What else did the Continental Colonies ship to Great Britain? In second place was pitch and tar, at about 35,000 pounds, or about ten percent of the total. For a related item, a smaller quantity of turpentine was shipped. Skins and furs were about five percent of the total. Rice stood at a similar value.
Tobacco was important to England because most of the crop was exported to other European countries, which earned foreign currencies for England. Typically, Great Britain imported about 25,000,000 pounds (weight) of tobacco annually, and exported two-thirds of this to other European countries. The figures also show how important tobacco was to the Virginia economy.
What did the continental colonies import from Great Britain? About one-half of the value was in woolen manufactures. Silks and linens were also important, but greatly reduced from wool. Other imported items were cordage; gunpowder; leather, including finished goods; brass and copper products; iron products, including nails; lead and shot; pewter; and many other items, such as furniture and decorative goods.
Imports to the colonies exceeded their exports by a substantial amount. This deficit fell hardest on the colonies to the north. They compensated for the lack of exports by engaging in trade of items not prohibited by the Acts of Trade.
The colonies were hard pressed to meet their needs by the export of raw materials to England. It would have been better for Virginia to have a broader range of export goods, and to have the ability to turn some of these materials into finished products. This last point was prohibited by the Acts of Trade, which attempted to secure as much as possible of the benefit of the trade for the home market (i.e., the local British market).
(19 Jun 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.