Private Indebtedness and the Revolution in Virginia, 1776 to 1796

Abstract

N January I775 merchant William Lee of London, the brother of Richard Henry and Arthur of Virginia, wrote merchant John Lidderdale of Liverpool that the colonies were going to stand firmly behind their nonimportation, nonexportation resolves unless Parliament revoked the Intolerable Acts. The effect, he continued, that this would have on British merchants and manufacturers was obvious. The situation was explosive; fighting might commence at any moment. And nothing can be more clear than that the first blow struck completely cancels every debt due to G. Britain.' The amount of debt Virginians had accumulated by I776 is on first view astounding. It was over /2,ooo,ooo and represented approximately half of the total American private indebtedness. It was distributed throughout Virginia society, though large planters were most heavily obligated. The involvement of smaller planters and yeomen was a relatively recent development. The consignment method of marketing tobacco that had prevailed before I750 had primarily involved the larger producers, but during the twenty-five years prior to the Revolution Scottish firms sent resident factors to buy tobacco and sell goods to all classes of growers through an elaborate system of stores. The result was not only the predominance of Scots in the tobacco trade, but also the increasing indebtedness of all elements of Virginia society.2 How many debtors there were in Virginia cannot be accurately determined, but