(COMMERCE) British manuscript on American trade

Sale 2533 - Lot 110

Price Realized: $ 688

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Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(COMMERCE.) British manuscript on American trade. 8 manuscript pages, 8 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches, on 2 folding sheets; minimal wear. With typed transcript. [Great Britain], circa 1801-10

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This interesting but unattributed and apparently unpublished essay is titled "Loose mem'o respecting American commerce." Its basic thesis is set forth in its first sentence: "The Americans are at all times the best customers of Great Britain." He elaborates that "the industry & the enterprise of our countrymen (aided no doubt by the enjoyment of a neutral position) has enabled them to throw off their dependence on British merchant or manufacturer. They now have a sufficient capital of their own." In addition to the eager American market for British goods, the essay notes that British goods are often trans-shipped via America to other markets where Great Britain would not normally have access: "You have only to change the name of the manufacturer, & the wants of the colonists will shut their eyes to the origin of the fabric. I have known Liverpool ware, ornamented with the portrait of George III, passed as German manufactures." The essayist argues that the American trade is also bankrupting France. The essay presumably being written at the height of the Anglo-French War, he concludes that "G.B. ought, from motives of policy & interest, rather to promote than oppose this trade." An 1801 speech by Lord Grenville is cited, which helps narrow the date range, and the War of 1812 still seems to be in the future. In general, the essay seems to promote Anglo-American trade and cooperation at a time when other forces were driving them toward war instead.