ABSTRACT
The renewed debates of the 1690s about how best to promote and profit from the sugar trade occurred in a context of ongoing war. Trade was negatively affected when ships stayed in port for fear of attack or when they sailed and were taken by the enemy. The Caribbean trade, being carried out over long distances and originating in a host of small and difficult to defend islands, proved challenging to protect. The anonymous author of A Brief Account of the Present Declining State of the West-Indies hoped to improve the West Indian trade by reforms especially aimed to protect shipping in wartime. In this document the author expresses frustration at the disruption of trade, and suggests innovative policies to protect England’s merchant ships. He wants the government to institute a system of convoys while preventing ships from sailing singly.
