BENGALI-TRADE IS THE MAIN REASON FOR INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN AMERICA

The American agricultural continent had newly gained independence from European rule. America was nowhere close to business or industrial development. Cotton cultivation, indigo cultivation etc. were the means of livelihood of the common people. Why not? That is what the ideal of Christianity says. Apart from that, the physiological doctrine of the French emphasizing on  ‘land cultivation’ also says the same. But what happened suddenly? The second industrial revolution happened in the world, that too in America! How was this revolution possible in the case of a nation that considered life without cultivation to be sinful and baseless?

New England is an area consisting of six states in the northern part of America. These New Englanders are genetically British, but remained in America after independence. Hence they were called by a different name, ‘Yankee’.

The entry of Americans into the coast of Bay of Bengal for trade was prohibited till 1785. But today the ships of the American Yankees came ashore without any restrictions. For almost thirty years, the greedy British East India Company officials had been devouring Bengal and the whole of India. When the people of Bengal were plagued by tyranny and oppression, the Sahibs were building mountains of wealth through illegal means. But it was not possible to send such a huge amount of money to England by East India Company’s ship. So the Yankee traders came forward to help them out of this situation. This is how the journey of Americans began in the trade of Bengal.

 The Industrial Revolution began in England in 1760, which continued until the 1840s. The British successfully started the world’s first industrial revolution by converting the huge capital built up by looting goods through American Yankee merchants and sending them to England.

In 1795 another industrial revolution took place. This golden age continued till 1820. Agrarian Americans did this difficult task without capital. There must have been personal interests of the Yankees behind helping the British. No one wanted to miss this golden opportunity to influence the shipping trade of Bengal without capital, because the Bay of Bengal had been a very important commercial hub since ancient times.

All American Presidents until 1813 were against industry. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison- they all believed in physiology. They had no faith in the market economy at all. They had no interest in establishing commercial relations with the outside world and using currency as a means of exchange. Only agricultural products were their medium of exchange. Despite all this, in 1790, America and the world were forced to make laws in favor of the introduction of currency and banks. After 1813, there were major changes in the American market economy. Since the state did not invest in industry and commerce before this time, how did this change come about? No revolution can happen overnight. So, the trade of Yankee Americans with Bengal is not the main reason?

As the British benefited from the Yankees, so did the Americans. By smuggling British stolen money to England, the Americans earned a huge amount of money from the trade of Bengal till 1807.

How the Yankee traders came to Bengal and provided enough capital to do business is a mystery. In fact, they adopted some strategies to get success in this trade. A third of their income came from carrying goods for hire. They made a lot of money by delivering goods from one port to another. They did not deliver the illegal money of the British to England, apart from this, they used to borrow the looted money to buy goods in Bengal. Also they used to buy the looted wealth of the pirates at a very low price. Many times they themselves indulged in banditry to collect wealth. They used to sell the goods bought from Bengal or acquired in different ways to other ports based on demand. In this way, slowly, almost without capital, the Yankees brought America to the peak of success through the trade of Bengal, almost without capital.

From 1807, the war situation between England and France stood in the way of America’s great success. The Anglo-French war had been going on since 1689. When this situation accelerated after 1807, the Americans faced various problems while conducting naval trade in Bengal. Their merchant ships were confiscated. Many American merchants were also imprisoned. Not only that, the captured American merchants were forced to provide labor for the war to be waged.

Thomas Jefferson was the president of America at that time. Seeing the situation, he quickly took an initiative. A law called ‘Embargo Act’ was passed in December 1807. Under this act, American imports and exports with Britain were prohibited.

US traders were in trouble due to the Embargo Act. Profitable trade with Bengal suddenly stopped. ‘The Boston Associates’ came forward to bring America out of this situation. Actually the name ‘The Boston Associates’ was given by the American Writer Vera Schlakman. With the help of four businessmen Nathan Appleton, Patrick Tracy Jackson, Abbott Lawrence and Amos Lawrence, the cultural and economic center of the New England area on the north coast of America and Boston, the largest city in Massachusetts, America was able to use its own capital again. Therefore, Boston Associates became the shapers of the American industrial revolution.

But the question remains, who were these Boston Associates? How were they able to bring about the industrial revolution in America through such a huge investment? A little research reveals that all four members of Boston Associates were involved in business in Kolkata.

George Macartney was the Governor of Madras from 1781 to 1785. He informed Governor General Warren Hastings in a long report about the possibility of industrial revolution in India as a result of Indian trade with America. This industrial revolution did happen,  not in India, but in America.

The first ship sent from America to the Bay of Bengal was the ‘Empress of China’. The ship was commissioned in February 1784 by wealthy merchant Robert Morris. Then the ship named ‘The United States of America’ was sent in June of the same year. This expedition was led by Thomas Bell. The ship was towed from the coast of the Bay of Bengal to the port of Madras in December. In June 1785, the ship named ‘Hydra’ was sent to Hooghly port from Rhode Island, America. In 1787, William Brown sent the ship named ‘General Washington’ to Madras from Providence, the capital city of Rhode Island.

Elias Haskett Derby, son of Richard Derby, the richest merchant in the north coastal town of Salem, Massachusetts, was the first to regularly conduct business by sending a number of merchant ships to Calcutta from the 1790s. Indian cotton cloth first came to America with the Derbys, which were later shipped to China for commercial demand.

In 1794, the agreement named ‘Jay Treaty’ was signed between the Americans and the British. According to this treaty the Americans also got the right to profit by conducting trade freely in India. Since 1795 the American trade in India began in a big way.

Despite the clear documents of so many events, for some unknown reason,the learned pundits are keeping it under wraps. For the sake of highlighting the glory of their own achievements, the Americans ignored the contribution of India and Bengal somewhat deliberately. It is our responsibility to  reveal to the  world that once even the Americans took refuge in this rich subcontinent   of ours. It is hoped that the realization of our power, potential and prosperity will awaken  all of us.

Riffat Ahmed is the Chairperson of Siddiqui's International School, Treasurer of Bangladesh English Medium School Forum and a psychology graduate from the University of Dhaka.