Liberty and Protection: Popular Mercantilism in the First British Empire

Lawrence A. Peskin

This paper examines the connection between protectionism and liberty in the first British empire by focusing on three protectionist incidents on both sides of the Atlantic. The first of these episodes, the Spitalfields Weavers' riots of 1765-1769, accompanied the Wilkite disturbances in London. The second, the American nonimportation movement, was an important component of the American Revolution, and one in which urban artisans played a crucial role. The third, the Irish Volunteer movement of the 1780s, paralleled American nonimportation both in the involvement of artisans (at least in Dublin) and in its anti-English protectionist rhetoric. In all three cases artisans wanted to protect themselves from imported manufactures through voluntary action (nonimportation agreements) and regulations by the English and Irish parliaments and the emerging American governments.

[WP # 99011]