Top 10 Import Categories Feeding Colonial New England's Economy

What the Ships Brought In: The Material Life of Colonial New England

Despite a growing domestic productive capacity, 18th-century New England remained deeply dependent on transatlantic imports for goods it could not yet make—or make as cheaply. Customs records and merchant correspondence reveal the hierarchy of necessities and luxuries.

1. Textiles (Largest Category by Value)

• Woolens (broadcloth, kersey, drugget) from Yorkshire/West Country.
• Linens (Irish, Scottish, German) for shirts, shifts, sheets.
• Cottons (calico, muslin, chintz) from India via London/Glasgow—despite Calico Acts restrictions.
• Silks, velvets, ribbons for elite wear.

2. Metal Goods & Hardware

• Iron & steel (bar, rod, nail rod) — NE had bog iron but insufficient refining capacity.
• Tools: axes, adzes, chisels, saws, files, hammers (Sheffield/Birmingham).
• Nails (hand-forged → cut nails late 18th c.), hinges, locks, latches.
• Firearms (Brown Bess muskets, fowling pieces), gunpowder, shot.

3. Sugar & Molasses (The Rum Engine)

• Molasses (from British/French/Dutch West Indies) → 150+ NE distilleries → rum.
• Refined sugar (loaf, muscovado) for household use.
• Critical for the "triangular trade" and internal consumption (rum = currency).

4. Tobacco (Re-export & Local Use)

• Chesapeake tobacco shipped to NE ports (Boston, Newport) for re-export to Europe.
• Local chewing/smoking consumption.

5. Alcohol: Wines & Spirits

• Madeira, Port, Sherry (Portugal/Spain) — elite consumption, cooking.
• Rum (West Indies) — before NE distilling met demand.
• Brandy (France), geneva (Holland).

6. Salt (Strategic Necessity)

• Fish curing (cod), meat preservation, hide tanning, butter/dairy.
• Imported from Liverpool (Cheshire), Mediterranean (Cadiz, Lisbon), Caribbean solar salt.
• NE saltworks (solar evaporation) developed slowly; never met demand.

7. Spices (Luxury → Staple)

• Pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice — via East India Company / Dutch VOC → London → NE.
• Price dropped 18th c.; became common in middling households.

8. Coffee, Tea, Chocolate (The Caffeine Revolution)

• Tea (Bohea, Hyson, Souchong from China via EIC) — ritualized consumption, political flashpoint (Tea Act).
• Coffee (Mocha/Java via Yemen/Dutch) — merchant houses, coffeehouses.
• Chocolate (cacao from Caracas/Grenada) — beverage, not confection.

9. Books, Paper, Printing Supplies

• Bibles, psalters, primers, almanacs, law books, medical texts, sermons.
• Paper (rag-based, imported; NE mills started 1728 but insufficient).
• Type, ink, presses for NE printing industry (Boston, Newport, Portsmouth, New London).

10. Furniture & Household Goods

• Chairs, tables, chests, high chests, desks, looking glasses, ceramics (delft, creamware, Chinese export porcelain), pewter, brass, silver.
• NE cabinetmakers (Goddard/Townsend Newport, Boston shops) used imported mahogany, hardware, finishes.

Payment Mechanisms

Fish, lumber, staves, rum, bills of exchange on London, slave-sale proceeds (West Indies), specie (Spanish dollars). Chronic trade deficit with Britain financed by West Indies surplus.