10 
Indiana University Studies 
effect upon the public mind in England so that the hope of 
temporary gain prevailed and Pitt's law was relinquished. 
The coalition ministry which succeeded that of Shelburne 
and Pitt demolished the whole system of friendly intercourse 
with America which Pitt's bill was about to introduce. The 
regulation of the trade was committed to the discretion of 
the King in council. Earnest discussion immediately arose 
as to the manner in which this power of the Crown should 
be exercised. On fhe one hand, the West India planters urged 
the admission of American ships on the old basis, maintain- 
ing that they would suffer severely if the colonial ports were 
closed against them. On the other hand, the loyalists of the 
North American colonies, supported by the ship-owners of 
Great Britain, insisted upon excluding the Americans from 
the trade. The final outcome of this conflict within the 
British empire was an order in council, dated July 2, 1783, 
restricting the trade between the United States and the Brit- 
ish colonies to a very small number of articles to he carried 
exclusively in British ships.^^ 
This order was exceedingly unpopular in the United 
States, but not there only. Bitter opposition continued from 
the British West Indies themselves. In 1784 nearly every 
island sent remonstrances and petitions to the British Par- 
liament explaining its dependence on America for supplies. 
The legislature of Jamaica declared that the trade with 
America was absolutely necessary to afford the planters a 
chance of carrying on their estates or of supplying their 
families with bread.^^ Terrible sufferings visited the popu- 
lation of the West India colonies. Between 1780 and 1787 
as many as fifteen thousand slaves perished from starvation, 
having been unable to obtain the necessary supply of food 
when local crops had been destroyed by hurricanes. But 
the complaints of the West India planters and merchants 
went unheeded; the British colonial system must be main- 
tained. 
Nevertheless the United States Government continued its 
campaign. In February, 1785, John Adams was chosen min- 
Hill, “The Navigation Laws of Great Britain and the U.S.” {Jour, of Soc. Sci., 
IX, 108). “Brit. Colonial and Navigation System” (Am. Quart. Rev., II, 274). 
Gardner, Hist, of Jamaica, 212, 213. Edwards, Hist, of the British West Indies, 
II, 496, 497. Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, II, 192, 193. 
Edwards, Hist, of the British West Indies, II, 511-515 (extract from a report 
of a committee of the assembly of Jamaica). 
