Page 121 - American Stories, A History of the United States

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BoSToN HarBor this engraving of a work by William burgis depicts the port of boston at mid-century.

birth of a consumer society
After midcentury, Americans began buying more English goods than their parents
consumer revolution Period or grandparents had done, giving birth to a consumer revolution. Between 1740 and
between 1740 and 1770 when 1770, English exports to the American colonies increased by an astounding 360 percent.
english exports to the American In part, this new American market shift reflected a transformation in the British
colonies increased by 360 percent economy. The pace of the British economy picked up dramatically after 1690. Small
to satisfy Americans’ demand for
consumer goods. factories produced certain goods more efficiently and more cheaply than the colonists
could. The availability of these products altered the lives of most Americans, even those
with modest incomes. Staffordshire china replaced crude earthenware; imported cloth
replaced homespun. Franklin noted in his Autobiography how changing consumer
habits affected his life. For years, he had eaten his breakfast in an earthenware bowl
with a pewter spoon, but one morning it was served “in a china bowl, with a spoon of
silver.” Franklin observed that “this was the first appearance of plate and china in our
house which afterwards in the course of years, as our wealth increased, augmented
gradually to several hundred pounds in value.” In this manner, British industrialization
undercut American handicraft and folk art.
To help Americans purchase manufactured goods, British merchants offered gen-
erous credit. Colonists deferred final payment by paying interest on their debts. The
temptation to acquire English finery blinded many people to hard economic realities.
They gambled on the future, hoping bumper crops would reduce their dependence
on the large merchant houses of London and Glasgow. Some persons lived within
their means, but the aggregate American debt continued to grow. Colonial leaders
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