It is surprising how an agricultural country, the USA, shifted to an industrial country four decades after its independence in 1783, the first revolution of the land. The transformation is the second revolution of the USA occurred through its Asian trade. It is more surprising ‘… until now, the story of the early transformation of America has remained untold’ though it is well known the trade was initiated by Europe and Europe’s transition from agriculture-based economy to industrial economy was made possible through the Asian trade with India and China especially. Professor Sirajul Islam, the then President of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (2008-2009), in his lecture entitled ‘Contributions of Asian Trade to the Early Transformation of the United States of America’ on 3 January 2009 reveals the cause of the second revolution of the USA.



The lecture has glimpsed at American society and economy dominated by Evangelical white settlers of about three million at independence. “Their goal of life was to make America a ‘kingdom of God’, a ‘Garden of Eden’. To them, the path to the establishment of the garden of Eden was to avoid trade and commerce as devotedly as did Jesus.” So, the country had no textile manufacturing factories and national currency. It was dependent on textiles by the British supply, and imported Spanish dollars. Under the British Navigation acts, American settlers were allowed to make maritime contact with the West Indians only. However, the first revolution – their independence – gave them passion and aspiration to go to the East in search of fortune, “But the majority of Americans had deep reservations on the question of undertaking overseas trade and commerce.”



The southern colonies wanted “to establish a happy agricultural-based economy on natural rights” while the northern colonies opposed the view. So, the Congress was divided into “agrarian Democrats and commercial Republicans” and involved in debate over the trade issue. Even the influential founding fathers of the nation, Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, showed cautious reservations about it. However, John Adams could successfully convince the Congress that “both husbandry and foreign trade could be pursued equally beneficially for all and without wars’. To them, overseas trade meant periodic wars between the mercantilist competitors.”



Asian products, thoughts, good governance, culture and civilisation were also known to the Americans. Even Sir William Temple “thought Chinese and Vedic and Buddhists thoughts should serve as a model for Western societies”. The American leaders were interested in Asian civilisations for the practical purpose. For example, Franklin was keen to know Chinese technologies including “paper manufacturing, windmills, farming, census, room heating, silk culture and [the] Chinese language.”



Professor Islam speaks of American pioneering voyages in Bengal and China. In late 1784 from Rhode Island the ship Hydra was sent to Calcutta and it arrived at Hooghly in June 1785. The ships returned home safely. All the voyages aimed at exploring the advantages of the Asian trade. The US traders would purchase goods in Calcutta with the help of local agents called banian, namely Ramdulal De, Ramchandra Mitra, Ramdhan Benerji and Tilak Benarji. With documents, Professor Islam says “The golden era of the American trade and commerce in Calcutta was the period of French Revolution and Napoleonic wars (1793-1815)”. He presents the statistics about the goods imported from Bengal and their value in Sicca Rupies worth more than one crore (ten million) each time. In the same year (1784) the China trade was also inaugurated by the two ships, the Empress of China and the United States. “[Opium] smuggling became an accepted method of American commercial enterprise for China trade.” For buying Chinese products and selling opium a substantial number of American vessels were dispatched to Canton in 1801, 1802, 1803, 1805, 1806, and 1807. The Americans’ China trade including opium smuggling significantly helped to grow American capital and to develop American Navy and the American ship- building industry as concluded by Charles Oscar Paulin who studied the trade deeply.



Professor Islam subsequently points out ‘Dollar Drainage’ issue raised by Mr Izard, a member of the House of Representative in 1805, that the East India merchants had been draining out American dollars as the Asian trade depended on dollars. However, the ‘dollar drain’ theory was rebutted and it was argued that dollars were not drained out rather dollars were earned and used for the Asian trade. Benjamin Crowninshield explained how the trade earned dollars for the US economy.



While discussing the impact of the Asian trade on American economy, Professor Sirajul Islam admits a quantitative picture of the contributions to the transformation of agriculture-based America to industrial America is not given for want of required data , but he remarks that substantial ‘qualitative evidence’ is available for this transformation. He consulted a great number of books and journals laboriously to present his scholarly and research -based lecture.



So, it cannot be denied that the early transformation of agriculture based America to its industrial economy was greatly possible for its Asian trade i.e, Bengal trade and Canton trade. But the fact is still untold unexpectedly.
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