trade

[Keith Broaders]

Before the Revolutionary War, American colonies relied heavily on barter and commodity money (tobacco, rice, nails) due to a severe shortage of British coinage. Trade was dominated by mercantilism, with colonies exchanging raw materials like timber, furs, and tobacco for British manufactured goods, although smuggling was common to evade restrictions. [1, 2, 3]

In the pre-revolutionary period (roughly 1750–1775), the American colonies paid their debts to British merchants primarily through the export of agricultural commodities, as they faced a chronic shortage of British pounds sterling. This debt, totaling roughly £5 million by 1775, was often settled through a complex, often strained, credit system. [1, 2, 3, 4]