Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review

WAR OF 1702-13-ASSAULTS BY NEW ENGLAND UPON THE FRENCH FISHERIES-PRIVATEERS--FLORIDA -TREATY OF UTRECHT: PROVISIONS REGARDING THE FISHERIES, FUR TRADE, SOUTH SA COMPANY, THE LOGWOOD SETTLEMENTS, ETC.-STATE OF TRADE DURING THE WAR-PAPER MONEY -FIRST BANKS OF THE UNITED STATES IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND MASSACHUSETTS-COLONIAL TARIFFS MANUFACTURES-IMMIGRATION-ENCOURAGEMENT OF NAVAL STORES IRON FLAXOTHER PRODUCTS-PROGRESS, AFTER PEACE, OF THE FISHERY-FUR TRADE-WEST INDIA COM. MERCE-THE SLAVE TRADE.

IN 1702 broke out the great "War of the Austrian Succession," in which although utterly unconcerned about the illustrious pedigrees and the rights of the princes in whose behalf the contest for the heirship to the crown of Spain was waged-the colonies of England, as of all the other belligerent powers, were involved.

Still New England, at least, of the English dependencies, was ready to engage heartily in the war, making a cause for herself in the long-cherished object of expelling the French from Acadia, (Nova Scotia since called,) and from the fishing grounds entirely. She would expend life and treasure with alacrity in the effort, as she had done before, requiring only an assurance that if successful, the whole fruit of the achievement should not be again thrown away by England at the peace.

Armed vessels were at once sent to that region, and the French cruisers stationed there to restrain or to harass the New England fishermen were driven off.

The French government, straining every nerve to bear up successfully against the formidable coalition by which it was assailed in Europe, was unable to afford any considerable aid to its colonies. Still, amid all the danger, it was not insensible to the value of its fisheries and the possessions therewith connected. Great efforts were made to procure a neutrality in

regard to the fisheries, and by indefatigable efforts and sundry indirect means, among which was the plentiful use of money, as is stated by Macpherson, they at length succeeded. The arrangement probably related only to the prosecution of the business upon the seas, as it did not restrain expeditions against the territories occupied by the fishermen. Neither is it likely England would have debarred herself, at a time when the opportunity was so good, from acquiring full possession of a region she so eagerly coveted.

At the opening of the war, in addition to the anticipated evils of the contest, several of the chief towns of the colonies were suffering a severe check from the ravages of pestilence. Boston was afflicted with the smallpox, while New York was being desolated by the yellow fever. Vaccination had not yet been introduced, and both diseases, being little understood by the physicians, were badly treated.

The Canadians, having made peace with the Iroquois in 1703, who refused to take part now on either side, were enabled to direct their whole energy against New England. They had the aid of various Indian tribes from their own region. The Acadians were yet more active. In July, 1703, Massachusetts effected a treaty of peace and Commerce with all the tribes between the Merrimack and Kennebec; but in seven weeks' time they universally yielded to French influence, and to the suggestive remembrance of old grudges; and busy work with the scalping-blade followed on both the eastern and western frontiers.

To revenge these assaults and prevent others, and to effect the scheme promising results so beneficial to their fishing and commercial interests, Massachusetts, in 1704, dispatched a force of 600 men under Col. Benjamin Church, the celebrated Indian fighter, who desolated a considerable part of the open country of Acadia, and burned several villages, but found Port Royal, the capital, had been made too strong for him.

In 1707, encouraged to further effort by the assurance that whatever they might gain by their own efforts would not again be relinquished, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, equipped another expedition, consisting of a fleet and 1,000 men, for the reduction of Port Royal. The capture of this place had, indeed, become now almost a necessity to the safety of New England, and was an object of some concern to nearly all the colonies. It was the rendezvous not alone of the parties sent out against the frontier settlements of New England, but of privateers, which were numerous on the whole coast of the colonies and had become very troublesome.

Port Royal was situated on the Bay of Fundy, was the capital of all the French fisheries, and had a respectable trade with France. It had an excellent harbor, capable of accommodating 1,000 ships at once. The fisheries and fur trade were the chief pursuits of the small populations of the Acadian villages; agriculture was, as yet, but little attended to. Money was scarce, most of their exchanges being effected by barter. Many of the inhabitants, subsisting by hunting, had no fixed location.

The New England fleet and force laid siege to Port Royal, but the town successfully resisted their efforts.

This untoward result was the occasion of more disaster to the interests of the English colonies. The privateers multiplied in number. At some parts of the coast trade was almost wholly cut off. The allied marauding parties grew bolder and more ferocious in their frontier opera

tions. In 1708, the town of St. John, the capital of Newfoundland, was surprised by a French force from Acadia and completely destroyed, and in a short time every English station on the island, one only excepted, was in the hands of the French.

In 1710, the third Acadian expedition of this war sailed from Boston, consisting of thirty vessels and four regiments belonging to New England, prepared by an almost desperate effort, combined with six ships-of-war and a corps of marines from the English navy, the whole force being under Gen. Nicholson. This time the attempt was crowned with complete success. Port Royal fell, and the other villages submitted. The name of the capital was changed to Annapolis.

A grand effort was made in the next year to conquer Canada, and complete the expulsion of the French from North America. Beside the New England force, there were fifteen English ships-of-war, forty transports, and a veteran army. New York and New Jersey-united as one province in 1702, and so remaining until 1738-became also active participators in the enterprise. From these two, with Connecticut, a force of 4,000 men proceeded against Quebec and Montreal, by way of the upper wilderness. New York was in the enjoyment of comparative quiet; but she was incited to an effort so unusual by jealousy of the progress made by the French in the Indian trade at and about Lake Ontario, and in what are now the central regions of that State. To secure that trade and the control of the Indians to herself, she made this extraordinary effort to expel the French from Canada.

The entire invasion was a failure, that of the marine expedition being most disastrous.

At the other extreme of the colonies, Carolina, at the opening of the war, was almost equally excited by projects for the extension of colonization and trade, as well as to present and future security. Her antagonists were the allied Spaniards and Indians. They had long foreseen the political and commercial advantages of possessing Florida, and set about the effort of making the acquisition immediately upon the outbreak of the war. A force of 1,200 men was dispatched, the main body proceeding by sea, the rest by land, and laid ineffectual siege to St. Augus tine. But they humbled the Indians next year. One great cause of the hostility of the latter was the outrages inflicted upon them by erafty traders, who, in conjunction with strong drink, had impoverished them. Most of their lands had been sold, and the reservations had been encroached upon. Since the visit of Raleigh, they had been miserably degraded and reduced. One tribe had disappeared; another, then numbering 3,000 warriors, had now but 15 men remaining. Of no cause, as we have before remarked regarding the Indians generally, was this deplorable destruction so much the effect, as of a vicious system of commercial inter

course.

For reasons corresponding with those which instigated the Carolinians to assail Florida, a French and Spanish squadron from Havana attacked Charleston in 1706, and reaped no better fortune.

The intermediate colonies-Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginiacould not well entertain any of the schemes of commercial and political aggrandizement indulged by the border provinces. They remained in quiet, and escaped the heavy burden which active hostilities imposed upon the others. Like the rest, however, they suffered in their outward trade.

« Նախորդը Շարունակել »