"That the inhabitants of the northern colonies on the continent of America have of late years carried on a very large and pernicious trade to the foreign sugar colonies in America, particularly to the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe... from whence they are supplied with sugar, rum, and molasses, to the great detriment of the British sugar colonies... and to the prejudice of the trade and navigation of Great Britain."
— Petition of the Merchants and Planters of the British West Indies to the House of Commons, 1731
The trade pattern described in the petition most directly contributed to which of the following British imperial responses?
- The enactment of protective tariffs, such as the Molasses Act, to redirect colonial commerce to British markets.Cevap
- BThe implementation of free-market policies that deregulated shipping to stimulate colonial industrial growth.
- CThe expansion of large-scale tobacco plantation systems throughout New England to compete with foreign islands.
- DThe introduction of molasses and sugarcane from European markets into the Caribbean to launch the triangular trade.
Cevap
The enactment of protective tariffs, such as the Molasses Act, to redirect colonial commerce to British markets.
The petition from British West Indies planters reflects their frustration with New England and other northern mainland merchants buying cheaper molasses and rum from French colonies. In response to this lobbying, Parliament passed the Molasses Act of 1733, putting a high tax on foreign molasses to protect British trade.
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Anahtar Kavram
Mercantilist trade policies and colonial responses