Interspersed with copies of the extracts from Gov. Spotswood's letters, I will add some commentary to help in the understanding.
The government of Virginia was vested in:
The Burgesses were elected by popular vote. The Council had to approve the legislation passed by the House, and they might send an act back to the House with recommendations for changes. (In addition, the Council was similar to present day Cabinets and was an advisor to the Governor besides being the foremost court in Virginia.) Legislation, when approved by the House and the Council, went to the Governor, who normally would sign if he approved, and if it were not unusual legislation. In all cases the legislation went to London where it might, or might not, be approved. Sometimes, these approvals or disapprovals might take several years, even after the legislation had been put into force in Virginia. In the previous note, much of what Spotswood wrote was directed toward this point. He hoped it would not be considered unusual legislation and that it could be put into practice immediately. But he made note that it would take so long to implement the work that the Crown would have time to reject it, if it was felt necessary, before any real progress had been made. He hoped though to get started right away.
Not quite so evident is the impact of the trade laws which said that the colonies were to be suppliers of raw material, and were not to engage in turning raw materials into finished products. For example, all wool was supposed to go to England, where it would be turned into yarn and made into clothing. This clothing would be sold to the Colonists. In the case of iron, it was not well established what the raw material stage was. Everyone generally considered that wrought iron, the second stage of production, was a part of a manufacturing process and the colonists were to obtain their wrought iron from England. Cast iron was still ambiguous. Spotswood attempted to counteract any argument that all iron should be cast in England as he noted that it was necessary for England to purchase iron from foreign parts [the Baltic nations in particular]. It would make good sense for the iron to be produced in the Colonies. The status of cast iron was so unclear that the Commissioners of Trade, in response to the proposals of Spotswood, said that no legislation should be passed in Virginia without a suspension clause. This meant that if the powers in England should say no iron was to be cast in Virginia, then the production of cast iron in Virginia had to be stopped. Since thousands of Pounds of money were involved this would have discouraged a person or the colony itself from even setting out to cast iron. It was for this reason plus the great expense involved that Spotswood was not personally interested in iron furnaces until many years had passed by.
(01 Sep 04)
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