The Stamp Act, for example, affected printers when that was a small proprietorship
I agee, which is why I said it was dumb for King George to piss off the press. But the largest portion of the economy, by far, was farming.
The Tea tax primarily affected shopkeepers, as well, by raising retail costs and driving down demand.
Not exactly.
On May 10, 1773, parliament authorized the East India Tea Co to export a half a million pounds of tea to the American colonies for the purpose of selling it without imposing upon the company the usual duties and tariffs. It was their intention to try to save the corrupt and mismanaged company from bankruptcy. The effect was that the company could undersell any other tea available in the colonies, including smuggled tea. The disruption to American commerce was unacceptable to many, including Sam Adams of Boston.
The Boston Tea party was dumping low cost tea. American commerce was hurt all right. The smugglers couldn't make a profit. Dumping tea was a loss to the consumer.
Sam Adams knew something of mismanagement; he ran his father's successful brewery into bankruptcy. I'm still looking how Sam fit into the tea business. Retailer? Contracts with other sources? Or perhaps a smuggler? A few weeks prior to the Boston Tea Party, a British naval ship ran aground chasing a smuggler. The British ship ran aground, personnel shuttled to shore and overnight the ship was damaged.
Most of the wealthy were Tories, and fled to Canada or England.
John Hancock was the wealthiest man in New England; George Washington is still the wealthiest of all Presidents in the US [adjusted for inflation]. The standard of living was higher in Boston than it was in London.
jttmab |
