USA > Connecticut > Tercentenary pamphlet series, v. 3 The Beginnings of Roman Catholicism in Connecticut > Part 25
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While this measure was based upon what seemed to be sound reasoning, in practice it was a complete failure. To
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import enough goods directly from Great Britain to supply the wants of the colony was found to be impos- sible, even with the bounty, because there were not traders enough in Connecticut able or willing to make the necessary voyages to Great Britain. Under the circum- stances it became necessary to continue to make use of middlemen in Boston and New York, and to pay the duty on all foreign importations, thereby raising the price of imported goods to the extent of the duty. The unwisdom of the act was quickly realized and in the following year, 1748, the assembly repealed both the duty and the bounty. Connecticut discovered that the middlemen of Boston and New York were performing a necessary function, and made no further attempt to eliminate them.
To a series of questions which the board of trade in London sent to the Connecticut government, the governor and company, in 1749, made an elaborate reply. This reply contained little new information concerning trade, which was said to be small, consisting chiefly of horses, lumber, and provisions shipped to the West Indies and exchanged there for sugar, rum, molasses, salt, and some bills of exchange. Surplus foodstuffs were dispatched to Boston, New York, or Rhode Island and there exchanged for European goods. The report referred to the attempt to increase direct importation of goods from Great Britain, and gave a list of imported goods of British manufacture, which included woolen cloth, silks, fire- arms, and all sorts of cutlery ware, the total value of which was said to be unknown.
XI
DURING the last twenty years of the colonial period three additional reports were sent to the board of trade. These
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reports, dated 1756, 1762, and 1774, are of great impor- tance for they not only indicated the type of trade, but estimated, in values, the total amount of imports and exports, and gave, in figures, the population of Connecti- cut. The report of 1756 fixed the total imports of British manufactured goods at £50,000 and exports at £130,000, thus giving Connecticut a favorable balance of trade of £80,000. The population of Connecticut was then about 130,000 (128,212 whites and 3,587 blacks),' therefore the value of exports per capita was about £1, while that of imports was seven shillings eight pence.
In 1762 the exports had grown to £150,000, an increase of £20,000, while imports were £100,000, an increase of £50,000. There was still a favorable trade balance of £50,000. The increase of population of 15,000 (total 141,000 whites, 4,590 blacks) almost balanced that in exports, so the per capita figure of £1 still remained, while the ratio of imports to population had reached the per capita figure of nearly fourteen shillings.
The figures for 1774 showed the imports and exports to balance at approximately {200,000, and the population to be nearly 200,000. The per capita rate of {I for exports remained the same, but the per capita rate for imports had risen from fourteen shillings to £1. The favorable balance of trade had entirely disappeared.
Interesting information obtained from these three reports shows that, while the exports always held the same proportions to the population, the imports in- creased more rapidly than the population, resulting, as stated above, in the entire loss of a favorable balance of trade. During the period, although production and expor-
I These figures are from Governor Fitch's report dated April 15, 1756. The colonial census as of January 1, 1756, enumerated 126,976 whites, 3,019 ne- groes, 617 Indians, total 130,612. Possibly the governor had available cor- rected returns.
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tation remained proportionally unchanged, the people of Connecticut began to spend more freely. It would seem to have been a period of economic expansion in the colony. This may be accounted for by the fact that in this period money became more plentiful, due to the credits paid by Great Britain for help given her by Connecticut in the French and Indian War. Probably a large part of this money found its way back to Great Britain through the purchase of British manufactured goods, and the con- clusion may be drawn that it was necessity, rather than desire, which made the Connecticut colonial so noted for his frugality.
XII
THE question of internal distribution is important in any study of the commercial life of a community. All the early settlements in Connecticut were either on rivers or on Long Island Sound. The transportation problem for these settlements was quite simple but, in the eighteenth century, inland settlements began to spring up, which could be reached only by overland routes. It is very diffi- cult to discover any definite evidence of how this problem was solved, but there are certain facts from which general theories may be evolved. Connecticut throughout the colonial period had such inadequate roads that overland transportation was difficult. Wagons or carts drawn by oxen or horses were used for such transportation as there was; and often as many as eight oxen were necessary to keep the unwieldy carts moving.
As early as July 5, 1643, the Connecticut general court granted liberty for a weekly market to be held in Hart- ford, on Wednesdays, "for all manner of commodityes that shall be brought in, and for cattell, or any marchan- dise whsoever." Two years later, in 1645, Hartford was
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permitted to hold two fairs a year, upon the second Wednesdays of May and September. With the establish- ment of markets and fairs one of the greatest obstacles to distribution was surmounted. Men from outlying farms could bring in their surplus products and exchange them there for manufactured goods. As the inland towns grew up a similar system seems to have been established, the general store taking the place of the market or fair.
The carrying of manufactured goods from England to some farm in the northeastern part of colonial Connecti- cut was a complicated and arduous undertaking. The goods had first to be sent to Boston, New York, or some Rhode Island port. They were then transshipped to New London or Norwich and there placed in warehouses. To these warehouses would come the wagons of the owner of the general store in some inland town. The return trip with the wagons heavily laden must have been a difficult one, but when completed and the goods exposed for sale in the general store, the farmer, coming in on horseback or with his small wagon, could easily select what he needed and after paying for it, usually with his surplus farm produce, would carry the goods to their final desti- nation. This was not the only method of distribution. Goods were often brought to the small inland towns of northeastern Connecticut overland from Providence, thus eliminating the sea transportation from Providence to some Connecticut seaport. Much the same methods were employed for the distribution of West Indian products such as sugar, molasses, rum, and the like.
It is easy to understand that with transportation de- pendent upon carts drawn by oxen, trade was greatly hampered. Towns not on the water were forced to be self-supporting to an extent that seems incredible to persons accustomed to railroad service and fine motor
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highways. Only those things that could not be made at home were imported, and as the difficulty of marketing home produce was as great as that of obtaining foreign goods, the farmer met his needs by producing in his own home, farm, or shop the articles required for his use and that of his family. It is a safe generalization to say that, in colonial Connecticut, by far the greater part of the trade was limited to those sections of the colony which had ready access to the water.
Another important factor in the distribution of goods throughout the colony must have been the peddler who, with a pack on his back or, if he had gained a bit of capital, with a horse, roamed throughout the colony with a varied assortment of merchandise. One of the more famous of these peddlers was Edward Pattison who settled in Berlin about 1740. He was a tinsmith by trade and soon began to manufacture tinware-perhaps the earliest manufacturing industry on any scale in Con- necticut. At first he peddled his own wares, in a basket, but as business improved he pushed a two-wheeled cart about the countryside. This was not a satisfactory method for long journeys, and he soon enlarged his resources, first, by one-horse wagons, and later by large carriages with from two to four horses. His business in time ex- panded so as to cover most of New England and New York.
The extent of trade carried on by the peddlers is im- possible to determine. It must have been considerable, as in May, 1727, a petition, signed by the leading merchants of Connecticut, was presented to the general court, com- plaining against "Multitudes of foreign peddlers who carry packs of goods to be sold from house to house and who escape the burden of taxation imposed on the regu- lar merchants." The general court deemed the petition of some importance, as they passed a resolution recom-
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mending that a bill be drafted prohibiting peddlers in the colony. The bill was so drawn, and imposed a fine of ten pounds for carrying goods from town to town or from house to house. For some reason it was not passed, and the peddlers enjoyed freedom of action until 1757, when a bill regulating and licensing them was adopted. Each peddler had to obtain annually a license from a judge of a county court, the cost of which was five pounds, plus a fee of four shillings. In 1765, the cost of the license was increased to twenty pounds and the fee to eight shillings. In 1770, all peddling was prohibited, except in deerskins, beaver furs, and the produce and manufactures of Con- necticut and neighboring colonies.
XIII
AN investigation of the local town records and histories of Connecticut for the purpose of obtaining information concerning trade at the end of the colonial period as com- pared with the period prior to 1680, has been unsuccess- ful. The majority of the records are concerned either with the period of settlement or with the period after the Revolution. It seems probable, however, that there was little to distinguish one seaport or river town from an- other, except in respect to volume of trade. New London remained the chief Connecticut seaport to the end of the colonial period. New Haven, after 1760, when the British government made it an official port of entry, began to encroach on New London's monopoly. The other Con- necticut towns confined themselves mainly to a coastwise trade with Boston, Rhode Island, and New York, with occasional voyages to the West Indies and Great Britain. In each seacoast town there were merchants who owned vessels, brought in supplies, and exported the surplus of the local community. Definite records of these transac-
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tions are not available and if available would be of local rather than of general interest.
The year 1763 marked the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one in British colonial policy. As already seen, during the preceding century British policy had attempted to force colonial trade into such channels as would prove of greatest benefit to the mother country. To this end, various acts had been passed and an admin- istrative system of royal customs and other officials, backed by vice-admiralty courts, had been established. The plantation duty had been imposed solely for the purpose of aiding in the enforcement of the trade laws. No revenue had been expected from this duty and there had been none, as it was estimated that the cost of collec- tion was about four times the amount of the duties received.
During the last few years before the Revolution, trade was established between New London and Gibraltar and Spanish ports on the Mediterranean. To the European ports were sent flour, lumber, and provender, in exchange for mules, which were carried to the West Indies and there traded for West Indian sugar and local products. Nathaniel Shaw of New London, in 1772, sent his sloop, Dare, to Great Britain with brown sugar, molasses, coffee, and one bag of cotton wool. The shipment was accompanied with the statement that there was at that time an oversupply of these articles in New England, owing to an increase in the West Indian trade, but that he hoped to dispose of them in England and, if successful, he could then send annually three or four vessels loaded with such merchandise. The Revolution put an end to all such commercial expectations.
In 1763, soon after the Peace of Paris, the British government made an attempt to suppress smuggling
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along the New England coast. An early issue of the New London gazette announced that a British squadron had been ordered to cruise along the New England coast to enforce the trade regulations. The Jamaica was stationed at Marblehead, The Squirrel at Newport, and The Cygnet at New London. The Cygnet arrived at New London January II, 1764, and wintered in the harbor for the next three years. What influence its presence there had upon the colonial trade is difficult to say, but the effect of the crew on the population of New London was such as almost to revolutionize the social life of the community. One of the officers, the purser, married a New London girl and founded a family. Six of the crew deserted and were never recaptured, as they remained in hiding until The Cygnet finally returned to England. Another officer of the vessel, who later became a respected shipmaster, deserted the ship the night before it was to return to England. Although the ship was anchored about three miles from land, he decided to risk his life rather than return to England. As soon as it was dark, he slipped overboard and struck out for the land. Fortunately for him, when almost exhausted, he was picked up by a small boat and brought safely to shore.
In 1776, at the May session of the legislature, the governor was placed at the head of the naval and custom- house business of the colony with power to appoint subordinate naval officers for the ports of New Haven, New London, Middletown, and Norwalk. Duncan Stewart, the British collector, was still in New London, having been forbidden to leave the town unless the gov- ernor should give him permission. He was granted, upon parole, permission to visit New York in 1776 and in June, 1777, was granted a passport to return to England. This lenient treatment infuriated the people of New
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London, and on one occasion when supplies were being sent him from New York, the mob seized and made a bonfire of them. The ringleaders were promptly arrested and jailed but a mob broke down the jail doors and re- leased them. The local authorities did not feel themselves strong enough to attempt to recommit them and they went free.
Stewart, when he returned to England, requested per- mission to take with him the goods of Dr. Thomas Moffat, the former naval officer. At first this permission was granted but, when it became known that Dr. Moffat had taken up arms against the colonies, it was counter- manded. Stewart, however, was permitted to take his re- maining possessions with him and he departed in July, 1777. With him went the hopes of ever again enforcing British rule in Connecticut.
XIV
THE leading events in the colonial trade of Connecticut have been sketched, exhibiting the nature, extent, and volume of this trade. It has been shown that throughout the colonial period trade was always subordinate to agriculture. The reasons for this are clear. Except for the towns on the rivers and on Long Island Sound the Con- necticut communities were isolated from trade routes. The roads were hardly worthy of that name and trans- portation was dependent upon oxen and horses. Another factor which limited the possibilities of a large volume of trade was the absence of a surplus. The Connecticut farms were rocky, the land except in the river valleys not fertile. The average inland farmer could produce only enough for his own needs and in the exceptional case of a small surplus the difficulty of sending it to the market
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cut possible profits to the point where the return was not commensurable to the effort involved.
Connecticut never developed a great commercial center as did New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The trend was always centrifugal rather than centripetal. As soon as a settlement did reach a size where a large com- mercial center might have been established migration began and new isolated towns were formed. While this tendency to split off and establish new centers was common to all New England communities it seems to have been more pronounced in Connecticut than else- where. While there were at least a dozen towns that attained some importance as shipbuilding and com- mercial centers they were the exceptions to the rule. By the close of the colonial period the normal small agricul- tural communities numbered well over fifty out of the sixty-eight towns in the colony.
Connecticut's colonial trade as compared with that of the neighboring colonies was so small as to be almost negligible. It was practically limited to the exportation of a small surplus of various agricultural products and to the importation of such household and farm necessities as could not be produced or manufactured at home. For that reason it had an influence upon the life of the colony that was insignificant as compared with the basic impor- tance of agriculture.
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TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
QUI
SUSTINET
TRANSTULIT
COMMITTEE ON
HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS
LI The Literature of Connecticut STANLEY THOMAS WILLIAMS
PUBLISHED FOR THE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1936
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TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS
LI The Literature of Connecticut STANLEY THOMAS WILLIAMS I T HE first significant group of American men of letters took form in the state of Connecti- cut. The Connecticut Wits (or the Hartford Wits), as they were called, have diminished in stature since their halcyon period at the close of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth, but they still live, in two ways. They remain historically important in American literature as pioneers; and they reflect memorably the modes and criteria of their epoch. In such a study as this, the Wits should, therefore, be mentioned first of all. Although a critic has made the amusing comment: "If these were the wits of Connecti- cut, what were the other members of the community?"; although, almost immediately, other groups arose and outshone them, notably in Philadelphia, New York, Cambridge, and Concord; although their influence was often more political and social than belletristic; they were, nevertheless, the first closely knit coterie of men with literary talent in America. Before them and after them, in Connecticut, in spite of the appearance of talented individuals, there was disunity. Only during
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their brief moment can one speak accurately of a litera- ture of Connecticut.
For, prior to the Revolution, the writing of Connecti- cut lay under the blight which affected all American literature; it was subordinated to stubborn factual records or to religion. Before 1700, indeed, it hardly existed.There was not, as in Massachusetts, a university; there was not, as in New York, a centralizing thriving seaport. The frontier was active, imperious. A thousand duties and dangers precluded writing. Literature could not flourish on such a soil. Even in the three quarters of a century just prior to the Revolution, belles-lettres were, for the most part, a luxury forbidden to men engaged in founding a new nation. This was true of the colonies as a whole, and in particular of Connecticut, where the strongholds of Calvinism were almost the last to fall.
As for the literary disunity after the short career of the Connecticut Wits, this was apparent in a certain mobility in the men of letters, a characteristic not peculiar to Connecticut, but especially evident in a locality so dis- tinctly a middle ground between the capitals of Boston and New York. It was natural for the gifted Fitz-Greene Halleck to migrate in 1811 not to New Haven, where conservative forces merely tolerated literature, or to Hartford, which by then the Wits themselves had aban- doned, but to New York, famous as a literary lodestone through Washington Irving and the Knickerbockers. Drawn by still more powerful magnets Amos Bronson Alcott left Cheshire to live in Concord. After the passing of the Connecticut Wits the state had no inevitable focus or meeting place for men of letters. Distinguished writers were born, were educated, or lived for a time in Con- necticut, but few identified their careers wholly with one place, as did Emerson with Concord or Longfellow with
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Cambridge. No circles of poets, novelists, and historians throve in a particular town to make it be called the Hub of the Solar System. Connecticut claimed Cooper in boy- hood during his short stay at Yale; and Mark Twain lived, during the latter part of his career, at Hartford and at Redding. This is typical. Aside from the Wits, the greatest writers of Connecticut have been but intermit- tently hers, and, unlike Massachusetts with her Emerson, Hawthorne, Lowell, Holmes, and others, Connecticut has shared her men of letters with other states.
Yet this hardly matters. Most writers who lived in Connecticut fell under her spell, and save Cooper, who always laughed at Yankees, and except Mark Twain, who remained homesick for his beloved Mississippi, drew something from her scenery, from her traditions, or from her friendly, shrewd life in village and town. Connecticut, Sachem Wood, Salmon River, Canaan, Edgewood, Qui transtulit-Connecticut names and phrases echo through the writings of even the most vagabond of these authors. Connecticut became an essential part of them, and as Massachusetts may still claim the metropolitan Bryant as her son, so Alcott, Edward Rowland Sill, and Charles Dudley Warner, despite their wanderings, belong to Connecticut. With these facts in mind, then, let the story be told: first, of the predecessors of the Connecticut Wits; then, of the Wits themselves who momentarily arrested and expressed the eighteenth-century cultural traditions of their vicinage; and finally, of their successors who, building on their Connecticut heritage and associations, were parts of the national literature.
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THE first are few indeed. Thomas Hooker, one of the founders of the colony, bluntly excluded himself from the
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company of literary men. "As it is beyond my skill," he declared in a preface, "so I profess it is beyond my care to please the nicenesse of men's palates with any quaint- ness of language. .. . " Yet Hooker's prose has the natural strength and lucidity often discernible in the writings of men of action. In The soule's humiliation (1637) and in his thirty other books Hooker wrote austerely of God and of man's duty. Cotton Mather's comment on Hooker was unjust. In his writing, at least, he was not the "bawling Hooker," but akin to Winthrop, Bradford, and the Mas- sachusetts historians of the Puritans; he was severe, strong, writing for those who love thought-"man's meat, no food for babes." Hooker wins a place in this essay chiefly through his eminence, but, to name one other writer of the colony's first century, Roger Wolcott (1679-1767) deserves mention as Connecticut's earliest poet for the fifteen hundred lines of his Poetical medita- tions (1725) and for his stately recital of the interview between John Winthrop, Jr., and the king, in London. A better general and governor than poet, Wolcott wooed a bleak and unresponsive muse. Literature, as said, did not appear during the first century in New England.
Nor did the greatest philosophical mind in America in the eighteenth century produce literature except in- directly. Jonathan Edwards' story has been told too many times to be repeated here. Born in East Windsor in 1703, he was graduated from Yale in 1720, where he was for a time a "pillar tutor," but he passed the most fruitful part of his life at Northampton, Massachusetts. Yet, wherever he lived, he comes back into memory not as the man of letters, but as the divine, preaching quietly his relentless sermons until members of the congregation cried: "Mr. Edwards, forbear!"; or composing his mighty treatise, The freedom of the will; or, more particularly,
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walking in the fields near the college, ecstatic with the experience of the mystic. Hostile to certain forms of literature, with eyes fixed upon the pure and endless light of eternity, coldly logical, he wrote, and because he was Edwards what he wrote could not help being, in a sense, literature. In it were fibre of thought, force of expression, and, occasionally, as in his pictures of the Last Judgment, splendor of imagination.
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