Crisis, 1763–1773

Abstract

In chapter 6 of The Overseas Trade of British America, postwar recession coincides with London’s attempt to tighten its control over colonial trade. First came the Customs Enforcement Act of 1763, a law that deputized naval officers as customs agents. Prosecutions garnered wide public attention, and Americans pushed back against prize-hungry naval officers, customs officials, and vice-admiralty courts. Clearly, salutary neglect was over. The Sugar Act of 1764 ushered in even stricter enforcement of laws governing trade, and the Stamp Act of 1765 asserted Britain’s authority to tax its American colonies. Americans responded with a campaign of political action and boycott that led to repeal of the Stamp Act. But new duties on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea in 1767 signaled the determination of Parliament to proceed. In 1770, the renewed threat of boycott resulted in repeal of these “Townsend Duties” — except that on tea. Trade immediately revived. Then in June 1772, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British colonies in America fell victim to a credit crisis whose severity threatened the commercial and financial structure of the empire. Teetering on the edge of collapse was the greatest of Britain’s chartered corporations: the East India Company.