Commerce

1788 · WRCAM47396 — London 1788. Paginations given below. Folio. Four of the titles string-tied as issued. First title lightly foxed and toned. Very good. In a half morocco and marbled boards box spine gilt. An interesting assemblage of British legislation from the period immediately following the Revolutionary War documenting British efforts to allow only very limited trade with the newly independent United States. British trade policy during this period is an excellent example of a foreign power taking advantage of the weak structure of the American Articles of Confederation which made it difficult for the thirteen states to act in concert and out of a any position of strength through unity. <br> <br> By 1783 the United States had formal trade relations with only two nations: France secured through the 1778 Treaty of Amity and Commerce; and the Netherlands via a Commercial Treaty negotiated by John Adams in 1782. Before the Revolution British merchants had relied heavily on exports sent to the British colonies in North America which greatly outweighed goods imported to Britain from the colonies. After the war the British government was reluctant to sign a formal commercial treaty with the United States. The states at the time were operating under the relatively weak structure of the Articles of Confederation and the British felt that they could secure the benefits of trade with the American states without making any treaty concessions. <br> <br> Britain opted instead for a series of acts that established limited trade with the United States and between the United States and Canada and the British colonies in the West Indies. The first of these laws was passed in 1783 and the evolution of that law is reflected in the first three items below. In all these British laws severely circumscribed American trade with England and with English colonies though they did allow some markets for American exports and did facilitate the flow of much needed imports into the United States. In 1784 British exports to the United States were valued at more than £3.5 million while American exports to England were less than one-fifth of that sum. The United States and Great Britain would not sign a formal trade treaty until the Jay Treaty which was approved in 1795 and which gave the United States limited trading rights in the British West Indies. <br> <br> The first second third and fifth titles below were printed in very small numbers for the use of members of Parliament during debate and action on the bills. Known as "slip bills" they are a snapshot of the legislation as it proceeded through the legislative process. The first and fifth titles contain blank spaces in the text where dates and tariff rates would be filled in later and all four of the slip bills have printed docketing on the final page. The first and fifth items also contain a printed note before the text of the bill reading "the figures in the margin denote the Number of the Folios in the written copy" which indicates just how early in the legislative process these bills were printed. <br> <br> The four bills and one act included in this group are: <br> <br> 1 A BILL FOR THE PROVISIONAL ESTABLISHMENT AND REGULATION OF TRADE AND INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE SUBJECTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA caption title. London. 1783. 31pp. This bill gives the United States the same trading status as other independent sovereign states but restricts American exports to Great Britain only to those goods that are "the growth produce or manufacture of the said United States." It thus forbad the "triangular" trade in which American merchants liked to engage while not imposing the same restriction on British exporters. ESTC locates only five copies. ESTC N32490. BELL G578 ref. <br> <br> 2 A BILL AS AMENDED IN THE COMMITTEE FOR THE PROVISIONAL ESTABLISHMENT AND REGULATION OF TRADE AND INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE SUBJECTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA caption title. London. 1783. 51pp. This bill expands on and further defines the previous bill clearly spelling out the limitations on American trade with England while imposing no such restrictions on English merchants and in fact making every provision to facilitate British exports to America. ESTC locates six copies. ESTC N32061. <br> <br> 3 A BILL AS AMENDED IN THE COMMITTEE TO WHOM THE SAME WAS RE-COMMITTED FOR THE PROVISIONAL ESTABLISHMENT AND REGULATION OF TRADE AND INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE SUBJECTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA caption title. London. 1783. 51pp. As with the previous two versions of this bill the language here explains that it would be "highly expedient" to have a trade treaty with the United States but until that point England would make due with legislation regulating Anglo- American commerce. The same restrictive language regarding exports from America is carried over. ESTC locates only five copies. ESTC N32016. <br> <br> 4 AN ACT TO EXTEND THE POWERS OF AN ACT.FOR GIVING HIS MAJESTY CERTAIN POWERS FOR THE BETTER CARRYING ON TRADE AND COMMERCE BETWEEN THE SUBJECTS OF HIS MAJESTY'S DOMINIONS AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE TRADE AND COMMERCE OF THIS KINGDOM WITH THE BRITISH COLONIES AND PLANTATIONS IN AMERICA.caption title. London: Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strahan 1784. 2715-716pp. This law specifically relates to British exports of iron hemp and sail cloth from the Baltic states to the United States. ESTC locates only three copies. ESTC N58431. BELL G585. <br> <br> 5 A BILL FOR REGULATING THE TRADE BETWEEN THE SUBJECTS OF HIS MAJESTY'S COLONIES AND PLANTATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA AND IN THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS AND THE COUNTRIES BELONGING TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; AND BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY'S SAID SUBJECTS AND THE FOREIGN ISLANDS IN THE WEST INDIES caption title. London. 1788. 91pp. This bill essentially prohibits American trade with Britain's colonies in the West Indies and prohibits American exports to Canada as well. The sole exemption is with regard to salt from the Turks Islands a product the English wanted to encourage. The bill allows American ships to receive salt on the islands. It also limits exports from the West Indies to America on such goods as sugar molasses coffee etc. to British ships only. ESTC locates only four copies. ESTC T201245. RAGATZ p.95. BELL G618 ref. <br> <br> An important group of rare working drafts of British legislation. hardcover books