COMMERCE. TABLE I. Showing the estimated value of the domestic and foreign produce, exported from the United States to foreign countries during each year from 1790 to 1820. Remarks. The domestic produce is the produce of our own agriculture,forests, manufactures and fisheries. The foreign produce is the produce of the agriculture and manufactures of foreign countries. During the long wars in Europe which followed the French revolution, and lasted, with scarcely an interruption, till the general peace in 1815, the maritime superiority of Great Britain prevented the continental powers from maintaining a direct intercourse with their colonial possessions and other foreign countries. In this state of things, the United States, being the principal neutral power, enjoyed the benefits of the carrying trade between the different European countries and other parts of the world. To satisfy the laws of war and the commercial regulations which were made in reference to this subject, the produce was first brought from the foreign countries to the United States and landed; after which it was re-exported. From the above table it appears that the carrying trade was very extensive between 1796 and 1807, the value of the foreign produce exported during that period being equal to that of the domestic produce, and in 1806 and 1807, when it had arrived at its maximum, greatly exceeding it. From 1807 to 1811 this trade, with all our export trade, was almost ruined by the embargo and non-intercourse acts of our own government; and during the war with Great Britain in 1812 '13 and '14, it was still farther reduced, especially during the last year of the war, when it was nearly annihilated. Since the return of peace the nations of Europe have become, to a great extent, their own carriers, and the export of foreign produce has consequently been very much diminished, but the value of the domestic produce exported has been greater than at any previous period. The total value of the exports, however, has never been so great as in 1805 '6 and '7. Questions. 1. In which three years was the value of foreign produce exported from the United States the greatest? 2. In which five years was the value of domestic produce the greatest? 3. In which year was the value of the total produce exported, the greatest? 4. In which was it the smallest? 5. Why was it so small in 1814? 6. Why was it so small in 1808? Exports and Shipping of each state. TABLE II. Showing the value of the produce exported from each of the United States for the year 1820, distinguishing the domestic from the foreign produce; also the amount of shipping belonging to each state in 1815. Dollars. Dollars. per c. Maine, 1,082,568 2.09 223,082 Vermont 395,869 Mase. R. I. Conn. 415,831 .80 N. Y. 43 Dollars. per c. Tons. pere. 25,463 .14 1,608,031 1.59 N. J. 6,101 .03 421,931 .65 8,250,675 15.96 4,912,569 27.2913,163,244 18.89 20,531 .04 5.70 2,794,670 15.52 5,743,549 89,498 .26 1,204,915 1.73 21,753 1.6 .05 4,557,957 6.54 71,496 5.2 N. C. 807,944 1.56 375 is. C. Lou. 7,242,415 14.01 353,742 1.90 7,596,157 10.90 17,203 1.3 96,630 .14 73,408 .10 145 159 U. S. 51.683,640 100.00 18.008,029 100.00 69.691,669/100.00/1,368,127/100 *Included in Massachusetts. Remarks. It must not be supposed that the domestic produce exported from any state is exclusively the produce or manufacture of the state from which it is exported. Louisiana has a large amount of exports, because it includes the produce of all the western states, which is floated down the Mississippi, and exported from New-Orleans. New-Jersey has a very small amount, because almost all her produce is exported from New-York and Philadelphia. In some years, more than half the domestic produce exported from Massachusetts has consisted of cotton, rice, tobacco, tar, flour, and other articles which had previously been brought coastwise from the southern and middle states. A very considerable proportion of the exports of New-York and Pennsylvania have also usually been the produce of other states. The productions of North Carolina are exported principally from the ports of Virginia and South Carolina.-The foreign produce is exported principally from the ports of Boston, New-York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. From the ninth column it appears that New-England and NewYork own nearly two thirds of all the shipping of the United States. The states south of the Potomac own only one eighth part. Our staple articles of export are principally the growth of the southern states; but this produce is carried to foreign coun tries almost entirely in ships owned by northern merchants, and navigated by northern seamen. Hence, a natural foundation is established for the Union of the states. Questions. 1. Which state was the first in amount of domestic exports in 1820? Which, next? Which, next? 2. What occasions the large amount from Louisiana? 3. What occasions the small amount from New-Jersey? 4. What occasions the small amount from North Carolina? 5. Which state owned most shipping in 1815? Which, next? Which, next? 6. Which state exported the greatest quantity of foreign produce in 1820? Which, next? Which, next? Which, next? 7. How large a proportion of the shipping of the United States belonged to Massachusetts in 1815? 8. How large a proportion was owned by the states south of the Potomac ? 79 List of the Articles Exported. TABLE III. Showing the principal articles of domestic produce exported from the United States in 1817, arranged according to their value. Articles exported. Value. Proportion of the whole. per. cent. 2. Wheat, flour and biscuit, ((viz. boards, staves, shin 18,432,000 26.98 9,230,000 13.51 4. Lumber, gles, hoops, hewn timber, 3,196,000 4.68 masts and spars,) 5. Rice, Remarks. The cotton was raised almost entirely in the states south of Virginia and Kentucky. The wheat and flour were raised principally in the middle and western states, and the tobacco in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. The lumber was cut chiefly in the forests of Maine, New Hampshire, and the low country of the Carolinas and Georgia. The rice grew undoubtedly in the swamps of the Carolinas, Georgia and Louisiana. The pot and pearl ashes came from New England and New York, and the Indian corn from every part of the Union. The dried fish are cod fish; the pickled fish are herrings, shad, salmon and mackerel. Almost all of them were caught by the fishermen of Massachusetts. The beef, tallow, hides and cattle were raised principally in the pastures of New England. The skins and furs were purchased from the Indian hunters. The rye, pork, horses, mules, soap and candles came chiefly from New England, but partly from the middle and western states. The tar, pitch, rosin and turpentine were obtained from the Carolina pines. The whale oil, whale bone and spermaceti candles were the fruits of the enterprise of the Nantucket and New Bedford whale men. |