Bounties (Commercial)
Bounties (Commercial)
BOUNTIES (COMMERCIAL). As part of its policy of mercantilism, the British government paid premiums or bounties to encourage certain industries or production. The Act of 1705, for example, provided bounties on certain naval stores that were listed as enumerated articles. These bounties, except for that on hemp, which lapsed during the Seven Years' War, continued until 1774. Bounty payments on naval stores during these years totaled £1,438,702. Indigo bounties, paid chiefly to planters in Georgia and the Carolinas, amounted to more than £185,000 from 1748 to 1776.
SEE ALSO Enumerated Articles; Mercantilism; Naval Stores.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Morris, Richard B. and Jeffrey B, eds. Encyclopedia of American History. 7th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
revised by Michael Bellesiles