British Committees, Commissions, and Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675

151 Pages·8.854 MB·English

by  Charles McLean. Andrews

J
BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS AND
COUNCILS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS
622-
I I67

SERIES XXVI NOS. 1-2-3
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES
IN
Historical and Political Science
Under the Direction of the
Departments of History, Political Economy, and
Political Science
BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS,
AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND
PLANTATIONS, 1622-1675
BY
CHARLES M. ANDREWS
Professor of History
BALTIMORE
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
PUBLISHED MONTHLY
January, February, March, 1908
Copyright 1908 by
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
Pressop
The NewEra printingCompany
lancaster. pa.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I.
Control of Trade and Plantations under James I and Charles I.
Before 1622, Privy Council the sole authority 10
Commission of Trade, 1622-1623 11
Commission of Trade, 1625-1626 12
Privy Council Committee of Trade, 1630-1640 13
Temporary Plantation Commissions, 1630-1633 14
Laud Commission for Plantations, 1634-1641 14
Subcommittees for Plantations, 1632^1639 17
Privy Council in control, 1640-1642 21
Parliamentary Commission for Plantations, 1643-1648 21
CHAPTER
II.
Control of Trade and Plantations during the Interregnum.
The Council of Trade, 1650-1653 24
Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State, 1649-1651. 30
Standing Committee of the Council for Plantations, 1651-
April, 1653 33
Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State, April-
Dec, 1653 35
Trade controlled by Council of State and Parliamentary Com-
mittees, Dec, 1653-June, 1655 36
Importance of the years 1654-1655 36
The great Trade Committee, 1655-1657 38
Parliamentary Committees of Trade, 1656-1658 43
Plantation Affairs controlled by Protector's Council and Coun-
cil of the State, 1653-1660 43
Special Council Committees for Plantations, 1653-1659 44
Council Committee for Jamaica and Foreign Plantations,
1655-1660 44
Select Committee for Jamaica, known later as Committee
for America, 1655-1660 45
Inadequacy of Control during the Interregnum 47
CHAPTER
III.
The Proposals of the Merchants: Noell and Povey.
Career of Martin Noell 49
.
vi Table of Contents.
Career of Thomas Povey 51
Enterprises of the Merchants, 1657-1659 53
Proposals of Noell and Povey 55
"Overtures" of 1654 55
"Queries" of 1656 58
Additional Proposals, 1656, 1657 58
CHAPTER
IV.
Committees and Councils under the Restoration.
Plantation Committee of Privy Council, June 4, 1660 61
Work of Privy Council Committee 63
Appointment of Select Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1660. 64
Membership of these Councils 67
Comparison of Povey's "Overtures" with the Instructions for
Council for Foreign Plantations 68
Comparison of Povey's "First Draft" with Instructions for
Council of Trade 71
Work of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1660-1665 74
Control of Plantation Affairs, 1665-1670 79
Work of Council of Trade, 1660-1664 80
Parliamentary Committee of Trade, 1664 85
Commission for English-Scottish Trade, 1667-1668 86
Reorganization of Committees of the Privy Council, 1668 87
Work of Privy Council Committee for Foreign Plantations,
1668-1670 90
New Select Council of Trade, 1668-1672 91
CHAPTER
V.
The Plantation Councils of 1670 and 1672.
Influence of Ashley and Locke 96
Revival of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672 97
Membership 97
Commission and Instructions 99
Meetings and Work lOi
Select Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations, 1672-1674.. 106
Membership 106
Commission and Instructions 107
Meetings and Work 109
Causes of the Revocation of the Commission of Select Council, m
1674
Later History of Plantation Control, 1675-1782 112
Table of Contents, vii
APPENDICES.
I. Instructions, Board of Trade, 1650 115
II. Instructions, Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-
1672 117
Additional Instructions for the Same 124
III. Draft of Instructions, Council of Trade and Foreign
Plantations, 1672-1674 127
IV. Heads of Business; Councils of 1670 and 1672 133

BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS,
AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND
PLANTATIONS, 1622-1675.
CHAPTER
I.
Control of Trade and Plantations Under James I and
Charles
I.
In considering the subject which forms the chief topic of
this paper, we are not primarily concerned with the ques-
tion of settlement, intimately related though it be to the
We
largerproblem of colonialcontrol. areinterestedrather
in the early history of the various commissions, councils,
committees, and boards appointed at one time or another in
the middle of the seventeenth century for the supervision
and management of trade, domestic, foreign, and colonial,
and for the general oversight of the colonies whose increase
was furthered, particularly after 1650, in largest part for
commercial purposes. The coupling of the terms "trade"
and " foreign plantations" was due to the prevailing eco-
nomic theory which viewed the colonies not so much as
markets for British exports or as territories for the receipt
—
of a surplus British population for Great Britain had at
that time no surplus population and manufactured but few
—
commodities for export but rather as sources of such raw
materials as could not be produced at home, and of such
tropical products as could not be obtained otherwise than
from the East and West Indies. The two interests were
not, however, finally consolidated in the hands of a single
board until 1672, after which date they were not separated
until the final abolition of the old Board of Trade in 1782.
It is, therefore, to the period before 1675 that we shall
9
10 British Councils of Trade and Plantations.
chiefly direct our attention, in the hope of throwing some
light upon a phase of British colonial control that has hith-
erto remained somewhat obscure. Familiar as are many of
the facts connected with the early history of Great Britain's
management of trade and the colonies, it is nevertheless true
that no attempt has been made to trace in detail the various
experiments undertaken by the authorities in England in the
interest of trade and the plantations during the years before
1675. Many of the details are, and will always remain,
unknown, nevertheless it is possible to make some additions
to our knowledge of a subject which is more or less inti-
mately related to our early colonial history.
At the beginning of colonization the control of all matters
relating to trade and the plantations lay in the hands of the
king and his council, forming the executive branch of the
government. Parliament had not yet begun to legislate for
the colonies, and in matters of trade and commerce the par-
liaments of James I accomplished much less than had those
of Elizabeth. " In the time of James I," saysDr. Prothero,
" it was more essential to assert constitutional principles and
to maintain parliamentary rights than to pass new laws or
to create new institutions." Thus the PrivyCouncilbecame
the controlling factor in all matters that concerned the colo-
nies and it acted in the main without reference or delegation
to others, since the practice of appointing advisory boards
or deliberative committees, though not unknown, was at
first employed only as an occasional expedient. The coun-
cils of James I were called upon to deal with a wide variety
—
of colonial business letters, petitions, complaints and re-
ports from private individuals, such as merchants, captains
of ships voyaging to the colonies, seamen, prisoners, and
the like, from officials in England, merchant companies,
church organizations, and colonial governments, notably the
governor and council and assembly of Virginia. To all
these communications the Council replied either by issuing
orders which were always mandatory, or by sending letters
which often contained information and advice as well as