Note 334 — Chapter XVII
Reading edition
The importance of the West India region to the commercial system of Great Britain in the last decade of the 18th century will be seen from the following table, showing the distribution per cent of British trade in 1792 and 1800:—
Imports from, Exports to,
1792. 1800. 1792. 1800.
British West Indies 20 28 11 10
United States 5 7 17 15
Russia 9 8 3 2
Germany and Prussia 5 12 9 31
France, Belgium, and Holland 8 4 15 12
Mediterranean 7 2 6 2
Spain and Portugal 9 5 6 3
Ireland 13 7 9 9
Asia (not Levant) 14 16 10 7
Miscellaneous 10 11 14 9
―― ―― ―― ――
100 100 100 100
The significance of these figures lies not only in the amounts set down directly to the West Indies, but also in the great increase of exports to Germany, and the high rate maintained to France, Belgium, and Holland, with which war existed. Of these exports 25 per cent in 1792, and 43 per cent in 1800, were foreign merchandise, chiefly West Indian—re-exported.