Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Markets and Governments in Economic History)

by Douglas A. Irwin

As George Washington stated, “It has long been a speculative question among Philosophers and wise men whether foreign Commerce is of real advantage to any Country—that is, whether the luxury, effeminacy, & corruption which are introduced by it, are counterbalanced by the conveniences and wealth of which it is productive.” But, Washington added, the answer is of “very little importance to us” because “the spirit for Trade which pervades these States is not to be restrained.”14 This reality forced Jefferson, with some reluctance, to conclude that “our people have a decided taste for navigation and commerce. They take this from their mother country, and their servants are in duty bound to calculate all their measures on this datum.”