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- Title
The Burdens of the Navigation Acts: A Reply.
- Authors
Walton, Gary M.
- Abstract
This article presents a reply from the author on the recent debate on the effects of the British Navigation Acts on colonial welfare. Any disagreement on the size of the burdens relative to Gross National Product is based upon differences in the estimates of the numerator, not the denominator. Despite differences in the estimates and techniques of measurement, the apparent measured exploitation was slight. Of course, its subjective importance to the colonists is another matter, as noted by author Frank J.A. Broeze. Although it is not possible to measure the subjective importance of such legislation, perhaps author Peter D. McClelland's reminder merits repeating. The Declaration of Independence, for example, makes no mention of the Acts of Trade, and those hardest hit by export restraints, the planters of Virginia and Maryland, almost never included those restraints in their list of grievances against the mother country. In addition author Lawrence Harper's point that the colonists had lived under the restraints for over 100 years, and that the associated burdens relative to income were probably less on the eve of rebellion than in decades earlier, should not go unnoticed.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; NAVIGATION acts, 1649-1696; ECONOMIC indicators; MCCLELLAND, Peter D.; GROSS national product; COLONIES; LEGISLATION; BROEZE, Frank J. A.
- Publication
Economic History Review, 1973, Vol 26, Issue 4, p687
- ISSN
0013-0117
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2593706