It was March 30, 1775. King George III delivers another blow to the American colonies, formally endorsing the New England Restraining Act.
This Act, a direct response to the Continental Association’s 1774 boycott of British goods, was designed to strangle the rebelling colonies into submission. By royal decree, New England’s trade was restricted solely to Britain and the British West Indies, cutting off access to broader international markets. Additionally, the Act barred New England ships from the North Atlantic fisheries—a move that amounted to economic warfare against a region heavily dependent on fishing for both sustenance and income.
But Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut braced for the fight. The Crown’s increasingly punitive measures—beginning with the Intolerable Acts exactly a year earlier—had only strengthened colonial resolve. And for Britain, the timing of this latest assault could not have been worse; it came just days after Patrick Henry’s electrifying “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech to the Second Virginia Convention.
Every attempt by Britain to tighten its grip only drove the colonies further toward defiance. The Restraining Act spurred even greater resistance, with more colonies—Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina—later joining the boycott and mobilizing their militias.
Nearly 250 years later, a similar battle over trade and economic control plays out—not between an empire and its colonies, but between America and her trading partners. Just as the British Crown sought to make its colonies economically dependent on the empire, America has become reliant on foreign manufacturing for basically everything.
Free trade, when truly reciprocal, fosters mutual economic growth and prosperity. After all, economic ties have allegedly staved off major wars—nations solve disputes through courts and commerce, not conflict. But trade must be fair, and today, America consumes far more than it produces, leading to lost jobs, declining wages, and dangerous dependencies on foreign supply chains—our vulnerabilities were exposed during COVID-19.
Once-thriving industrial hubs in the Midwest, where manufacturing plants bustled with activity, have become ghost towns—literally. The promise that America has “moved beyond manufacturing” has left many communities hollowed out while foreign competitors maintain their production dominance.
But the current administration has taken up the call for reform; we are declaring independence again. Seeking to recalibrate global trade in favor of American interests, it is imposing tariffs on foreign-made goods and incentivizing domestic production.
Whether by monarchy or bad policy, economic restriction has only had one effect on America. Then, as now, it fuels the nation’s desire for autonomy.
Art by Beck & Stone
This article was originally published at www.mindingthecampus.org
