AN ESSENTIAL LINK IN A VAST CHAIN: NEW ENGLAND AND THE WEST INDIES, 1700-1775 by Eric Bartholomew Kimball B.A. in History, University of New Hampshire, 1993 M.A. in History, University of New Hampshire, 2002 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2009 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Eric Kimball It was defended on March 18, 2009 and approved by Werner Troesken, PhD, Professor, Department of Economics Van Beck Hall, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of History Seymour Drescher, PhD, Professor, Department of History Dissertation Advisor: Marcus Rediker, PhD, Professor, Department of History ii Copyright © by Eric Kimball 2009 iii AN ESSENTIAL LINK IN A VAST CHAIN: NEW ENGLAND AND THE WEST INDIES, 1700-1775 Eric Kimball, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2009 This dissertation will show that although comparatively few slaves lived and worked in colonial New England, slavery was essential to the economic growth of all four colonies in the region. Until the American Revolution, New Englanders depended on the slave labor plantation regimes of the West Indies to purchase their exports. Despite scholarly consensus on the importance of the West Indian trade for New England’s economic growth, both the details and the consequences of this relationship for New England’s history remain unexplored until now. Drawing heavily on customs records, colonial newspapers, merchant accounts, diaries, colony records, and logbooks, this dissertation reveals the essential “links” forged between free and enslaved laborers from Boston to Barbados. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... XII 1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 2.0 “THE FIRST WHEEL OF COMMERCE:” RHODE ISLAND, THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE WEST INDIES .......................................................................................... 18 3.0 “THE PRINCIPAL TRADE OF THIS COLONY IS TO THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS”: CONNECTICUT AND THE WEST INDIES .................................................... 71 4.0 “FINE FORESTS”: THE FORESTS OF MAINE, FALMOUTH, AND THE WEST INDIES .......................................................................................................................... 189 5.0 “THE MEAT OF ALL THE SLAVES IN ALL THE WEST INDIES”: SALEM, MARBLEHEAD, AND THE WEST INDIES........................................................................ 250 6.0 “BOSTON…THE MART TOWN OF THE WEST INDIES” ............................ 331 7.0 “MANY VESSELLS GON:” NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE WEST INDIES 423 8.0 FORGETTING THE “LINKS IN A VAST CHAIN”: NEW ENGLAND, SLAVERY, RACE AND THE WEST INDIES...................................................................... 487 9.0 CONCLUSION: ASSESSING THE LINKS IN THE VAST CHAIN ................ 532 APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................ 538 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ 543 APPENDIX C............................................................................................................................ 546 v BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................... 548 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1 Vessels Clearing Outward from Rhode Island: 1768-1772.......................................... 54 Table 2-2 Rhode Island Tonnage Cleared Outward: 1768-1772.................................................. 55 Table 2-3 Vessels Entering Rhode Island: 1768-1772 ................................................................. 56 Table 2-4 Tonnage Entering Rhode Island 1768-1772................................................................. 57 Table 2-5 Spermaceti Candle Exports to the West Indies: 1768-1772......................................... 58 Table 2-6 Rhode Island Exports to the West Indies 1768 – 1772 ................................................ 59 Table 2-7 Rhode Island Coastal Trade 1768-1772: Commodities and Values............................. 66 Table 2-8 Value of Rhode Island Exports: 1768 – 1772 .............................................................. 70 Table 3-1 Vessels Clearing New Haven: 1768-1772.................................................................. 117 Table 3-2 Tonnage Clearing New Haven: 1768 – 1772 ............................................................. 118 Table 3-3 Vessels Clearing New London: 1768 – 1772............................................................. 120 Table 3-4 Tonnage Clearing New London: 1768 – 1772 ........................................................... 122 Table 3-5 Vessels Entering New Haven: 1768 – 1772............................................................... 124 Table 3-6 Tonnage Entering New Haven: 1768 – 1772 ............................................................. 126 Table 3-7 Vessels Entering New London: 1768 – 1772............................................................. 128 Table 3-8 Tonnage Entering New London: 1768 – 1772 ........................................................... 130 Table 3-9 Value of New Haven Exports to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772................................. 132 vii Table 3-10 Value of New London Exports to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772............................. 140 Table 3-11 Value of New Haven’s Exports in the Coastal Trade: 1768 – 1772 ........................ 150 Table 3-12 Value of Re-Exported West Indian Commodities in the New Haven Coastal Trade: ..................................................................................................................................................... 163 Table 3-13 New London Exports in the Coastal Trade: 1768 – 1772 ........................................ 164 Table 3-14 Value of Re-Exported West Indian Commodities.................................................... 182 Table 3-15 Cattle Exported from British North America to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772....... 183 Table 3-16 Horses Exported from British North America to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772 ..... 184 Table 3-17 Sheep Exported from British North America to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772....... 185 Table 3-18 Value of New Haven Exports to All Areas: 1768 – 1772 ........................................ 186 Table 3-19 Value of New London Exports to All Areas: 1768 – 1772 ...................................... 187 Table 3-20 Value of All Connecticut Exports to All Areas: 1768 – 1772.................................. 188 Table 4-1 Population of Maine 1765 .......................................................................................... 215 Table 4-2 Ship Clearances From Falmouth: 1768 – 1772 .......................................................... 216 Table 4-3 Tonnage Clearing Falmouth: 1768 – 1772................................................................. 217 Table 4-4 Exports from Falmouth to the Coastal Trade: 1768 – 1772 ....................................... 218 Table 4-5 Exports from Falmouth to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772 .......................................... 234 Table 4-6 Exports from Falmouth to Great Britain: 1768 – 1772 .............................................. 241 Table 4-7 Shipbuilding in Maine: Select Years 1674 – 1753..................................................... 247 Table 4-8 Value of Exports from Falmouth to All Areas: 1768 – 1772..................................... 249 Table 5-1 Ships Clearing Salem 1715 – 1716 ............................................................................ 277 Table 5-2 Tonnage Clearing Salem 1715 – 1716 ....................................................................... 278 Table 5-3 Value of Quintals Exported from Salem: 1715 – 1716 .............................................. 279 viii Table 5-4 Salem Clearances to Southern Europe in 1716: Ships, Tonnage and Destinations.... 280 Table 5-5 Salem Clearances to the West Indies in 1716: Ships, Tonnage and Destination ....... 283 Table 5-6 Fish Exports and Values from Salem and Marblehead – 1757 .................................. 284 Table 5-7 Fish Exports and Values from Salem and Marblehead – 1762 .................................. 285 Table 5-8 Vessels Clearing from Salem and Marblehead: 1768 – 1772 .................................... 286 Table 5-9 Tonnage Clearing from Salem and Marblehead: 1768 – 1772................................... 287 Table 5-10 Exports from Salem and Marblehead to Southern Europe: 1768 – 1772................. 288 Table 5-11 Salem and Marblehead Exports to Coastal Trade: 1768 – 1772 .............................. 294 Table 5-12 Coastal Trade Exports from Salem and Marblehead:............................................... 315 Table 5-13 Salem & Marblehead Exports to the West Indies: 1768 – 1772 .............................. 316 Table 5-14 Exports from Salem and Marblehead to Great Britain: 1768-1772 ......................... 327 Table 5-15 Value of Salem and Marblehead Exports to All Regions – 1768-1772 ................... 329 Table 5-16 Fish Exports from Salem and Marblehead for Select Years: 1715 – 1772 .............. 330 Table 6-1 Vessels Clearing Boston: Selected Years 1753 – 1764.............................................