Trade Is A "Nice and Delicate Lady"

"[Oxenbridge] Thacher compared trade to a 'nice and delicate lady; she must be courted and won by soft and fair addresses. She will not bear the rude hand of the ravisher.'" (276) --Margaret Ellen Newell, From Dependency to Independence: Economic Revolution in Colonial New England

"L'incroyable et la merveilleuse" by
L. Massard and Theophile Fragonard.
Clearly this is a picture of neither
English or American lovers. However,
the period, 1790s, is somewhat close. And,
most of all, who knows romance better
than the French?
From: NYPL Picture Collection Online

Thacher wrote this in a 1764 pamphlet entitled Sentiments of a British American. It was written in response to the Revenue and Sugar Acts passed by the British Parliament in that year. Both laws established a long list of new import duties and trade restrictions for Americans. Like the Stamp Act of the following year, they were intended for the generation of revenue for the British government, which was in debt from its expenses incurred in the recent Seven Years War (i.e., the French and Indian War). They were also intended to curtail what Britain saw as a growing economic threat from New England. Shipping, especially to the West Indies, had become a major part of the New England economy. New Englanders had also taken up household industry and processing of agricultural and natural products as a way to build wealth. They turned to small scale industry such as wool hats and potash production as a way to supplement the meager wealth allowed by the rocky, poor soil on their farms. Many ironworks had also sprouted across New England. Britain saw all of this as a competitive threat to their own industry. With the new laws and regulations in 1764, Britain was restoring a proper mercantile relationship of dependency between America and Britain.

Before Thacher proposed the vivid metaphor quoted above for how to approach trade, he had explained in his pamphlet how a single duty on molasses would negatively impact many other areas of commercial activity. He explained how the molasses duty would adversely affect the rum distilling, whaling, fishing, shipbuilding, timber and provisions trades in New England. (Newell, 276) Thacher proposed a minimum of trade regulations and as much free trade as possible for New England merchants.

Thus, trade is a "nice and delicate lady" who won't tolerate any rough handling. You'd better keep an eye on her though, because she always wants to be free to consort with those offering the best terms. If you attempt to control her, you'd better watch out because she won't have any compunctions about sneaking out on you (i.e. smuggling). I have obviously extended Thacher's metaphor a little farther than he intended! But I would like to ask Oxenbridge just one question if I could: What does it mean for the government to make love to trade?