"All provisions...(are)...very dear, particularly Rum, which must be instead of Beer, which the Severity of the winter freezes in that cold country..." The Molasses Act of 1733, Part 2.
In Part 1 I explored the circumstances that lead up to the Molasses Act of 1733 and what was happening in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada at that time. We left off with:
Nothing is ever simple...
In fact, very little changed. New England distillers continued making rum as they always had. English sugar plantations saw very little as an uptick in sales.
The plantation owners in the British West indies advocated in Parliament first that all trade with France be banned. When this did not pass, they suggested tariffs. In 1733 the English Parliament imposed a Molasses act imposing a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-English colonies. This tax also extended to the immediate siblings of molasses; sugar and rum. The plan was simple, to make French molasses more expensive than that of the English and force distillers to buy their molasses from English plantations.
In fact, very little changed. New England distillers continued making rum as they always had. English sugar plantations saw very little as an uptick in sales.
“Duties collected on all molasses imported into the northern colonies in 1735 – two years after the act was passed – amounted to £2. During the entire three-decade period in which the act was on the books, the crown collected just £13,702 on a half-million gallons of officially imported foreign molasses.”[1]
French molasses continued to flow to
New England distilleries either through the pockets of corrupt British customs
officials or through the new French Fortress of Louisburg (Located in modern day
Cape Breton constructed between 1720-1740). The French would import molasses to the
fortress then it would make its way a short distance down the coast to the New
England populated fishing station of Canso. Louisburg also changed hands in
1745 after a combined New England/Royal Navy attack that left the fort in
English allied hands until 1748.
The importance of Nova Scotia was
growing. In 1745 the Royal Navy established the North America and West Indies
Station based in Halifax. With the creation of the naval station came the need
for an Agent Victualler to supply the fleet of ships based there.
“Unlike the primary yards which were placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Victualing Board, the Commissioners entrusted each secondary home or over seas port to a single contractor who had to be in a position to fulfill all and any demands for victuals made by the Royal Navy”[2]
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| Plan of the New Town of Halifax in Nova Scotia, 1749 |
Its difficult to explore the history
of rum in the Atlantic Provinces without coming across the name Joshua Mauger.
From 1749-1760, the period he was in Nova Scotia, he would become one of Nova
Scotia’s most successful businessmen. Mauger was involved in shipping, and
trade and most importantly for our purpose, all aspects of rum. In 1749 Mauger
became the Agent Victualler to the Royal Navy beginning at Fortress Louisburg
during the English occupation then continuing in Halifax after 1750. Mauger
first established a rum distillery just outside of Halifax in 1751. As Agent
Victualler, it made good business sense to be able to supply the navy from his
own product rather than having to buy it from elsewhere, especially considering
recent duties and taxes levied on imported rum. “…the excise on rum and liquor could be enforced whether they were legally or illegally imported into the province… Low rates on alcoholic beverages in 1742/43 were doubled in 1748/49, reduced by a third in 1751/52, and then doubled from 1757/58.”[3]
By keeping the source of supply local,
Mauger was presumably able to avoid at least some of these additional import duties.
However, in order to insure his prosperity and through his enormous wealth and
influence:
“The first legislative council of Nova Scotia was made of men appointed at his bidding, and through them he had his distilling interests protected with an 8d. per gallon duty on imported rum.”[4]
Furthermore, given his close
connection to Louisburg the Agent Victualler turned distillery owner also had
access to a steady supply of French Molasses. It is recorded that Mauger soon
found himself running afoul of the British Authorities for suspected smuggling
of goods and supplies from Louisburg until at least 1754 and that he did indeed
risk loosing his appointment as Agent Victualler to the Royal Navy after
refusing to open his storehouse for inspection by British troops. However,
despite ongoing conflicts with Governor Cornwallis he seems to have maintained
his position until his departure in 1760. With business interests not only in
local rum production but also in the selling of rum to the common man through several
stores that he owned, Mauger was also involved in shipping (the owner of 27
vessels in whole or part). He was well known for shipping fish and timber to
the West Indies and returning with molasses, sugar, slaves and, as you might
expect, rum. In 1760 Mauger returned to England a took up a position as Nova
Scotia’s Agent in London. From there he remained highly involved in the
political affairs of Nova Scotia. In 1768 Mauger was elected a Member of
Parliament in Poole.
In the years following the building of
Joshua Mauger’s distillery others began to crop up as well. First from John
Fillis, a wealthy businessman from Boston, in 1752 and then William Steele in
1754. Although I’ve not found evidence to suggest that Mauger and Fillis were
actual partners, they did seem to often work in concert to ensure the success
of their common interest. Together the two employed the same agent who was able
to lobby on their behalf in government and overall, they established and maintained
a virtual monopoly on the rum trade in Nova Scotia.
The need for rum and the ability of Nova
Scotian businessmen to provide it continued to grow despite the imposition of
the Molasses Act of 1733. However; in 1754 there was a change in the global
landscape that threatened to upset this balance. As I mentioned in Part 1,
England had been involved in seemingly one war after another. In fact, there
were six colonial wars between 1689–1763, which involved British New England,
French Acadia and both the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) people as part
of the Wabanaki Confederacy. 1754 saw the start of the French and Indian War
which two years later in 1756 became the North American theatre for the more
global Seven Years War.
The English conquered Acadia through
the Siege of Port Royal in 1710 (The title quote above about the need for rum due to beer freezing in the harsh winter was written immediately
following the capture of Port Royal as the British needed to resupply the
fort). Despite the English rule, the French settlers in the surrounding region
kept the English largely penned in the fort. The primarily French countryside
refused to sign an allegiance to the British crown for the next 45 years. Supply
lines were kept open between the French Forts of Beausejour (located in
modern-day New Brunswick on the border with Nova Scotia) and Louisburg (Under
construction between 1720-1740). The founding of a major fort in such a key
strategic locating sparked concern with both the British and New England
fisherman as French Privateers were operating out of Louisburg harbour and
targeting the fishing fleets heading for the Grand Banks to the valuable cod
grounds. In 1755 the British moved to eliminate any future military threat posed by
the Acadians and to permanently cut the supply lines by removing the French
settlers from the area. Known as the Great Expulsion (Le Grand Dérangement),
the act occurred for the duration of the French and Indian War and a
significant number were forcibly removed to various parts of the world
including Spanish Louisiana, where "Acadians" eventually became
"Cajuns". The large amount of rum and molasses that was flowing
through the supply lines originating at Louisburg worked as an incentive for the
common British troops who were otherwise rationed to a daily limit and in many
cases had experienced wartime shortages.
The global nature of the Seven Years
War sparked a change for the rum industry as British New England merchantmen
were now no longer willing to sail into French Island ports to pick up
shipments of cheap molasses for fear of being captured and held prisoner. Early
on, traders would sail to Spanish free ports, but after the English overran the
French Islands such as Dominique and Guadeloupe the merchantmen returned unencumbered.
That return to “business as usual” was short lived. After the end of the war and the signing of the
Treaty of Paris in 1763, the Islands were returned to France while the British
retained Canada.
1763 also marked the end of the largely
ineffective Molasses Act. Instead, by 1764 news began to circulate of a new
Sugar Act (Also known as the American Revenue Act). The difference in this case
was that where the Molasses Act was envisioned to curb behavior and force
merchants to buy much need molasses from British colonies, the Sugar Act was
simply a revenue generator. England needed money after the Seven Years
War and saw a series of new taxes as the way to top up the coffers. It turns
out they were correct. Whereas the Molasses Act was barely, if at all enforced,
the Sugar Act seems to have been enforced with more vigor. Its important to note
that the rates of taxation for the Sugar Act were about half that of the Molasses
Act. Records show many businessman and agents still applied for a reprieve on
importation taxes based on the act for a variety of reasons including one
asking for a break for the Navy itself!
“House of Assembly
June 30th. 1775Upon the consideration of the Memorial of Mr. Alex Thompson presented the 28th instant.Resolved, that it is the opinion of this House, that the act for Granting to His Majesty a duty of excise on Molasses & Brown Sugar should not in any shape affect the molasses actually Expended for the use of His Majesty’s navy.Ordered that this Resolution be sent to His Majesty’s Council for Commerce
J. Deschamps”[5]
The success of the newly enforced Sugar Act would have another
effect aside from just replenishing the coffers of the British Monarchy, one
that had been brewing since early in the days of the Molasses Act and would
eventually increase Nova Scotia’s autonomy from New England distillers. These
acts increased the concern of New Englanders toward the British Parliament and the
West Indies sugar plantations. Sugar producers of all nationalities were trying to bolster
their own markets for rum and increasing the costs on molasses as well. Unrest
grew. Amid petitions and a growing movement against the British Parliament and
the West Indies sugar plantations there was increased pressure for change. In
1766 the Act was amended to 1 penny per gallon on imported molasses, making it
cheaper to buy the molasses legally then to acquire it through smuggling. More importantly,
the pressure from the colonies instituted change. The laid the basis for an
even greater change that was on the horizon…The American Revolution.
[1]
p103-104, And a Bottle of Rum. Wayne Curtis. Three Rivers Press
[2]
p105, The British Navy, Economy and Society in the Seven Years War. Christian
Buchet.
[4] P.
19, James H. Morrison and James Moreira.
[5] Nova
Scotia House of Assembly Nova Scotia Archives RG 5 Series A vol. 1a no. 76
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