rench ports for the sale of their goods. These daring exploits had a tremendous effect on British trade and morale. Britain's power rested on her naval strength, and her colonial empire was fed by her well-developed merchant marine fleet. The privateers deprived Britain of her source of strength. Aside from the monetary loss from captures, privateering had ramifications throughout the British economy. Privateers operating off the American coast effectively disrupted trade with the Americas. However, America was only a portion of Great Britain's colonial possessions. Taking the war to her coasts impacted all of her trade routes with all of her colonies. Insurance rates on cargoes being transported on ships of British flag skyrocketed. Ships sailing for the Americas were even more expensive to insure. To insure cargo bound anywhere from Great Britain cost up to eight percent of the cargoes estimated value by 1789. It was impossible to get insurance for a ship sailing for America unless she moved in a guarded convoy, and even then insurance could reach thirty percent. The loss inflicted by American privateers led to the formation of these armed convoys, often consisting of up to fifty ships. Even the linen trade with nearby Ireland was ravaged. Accounts of a convoy of linen ships sailing from Ireland to England with sixty ships, five of them being warships, indicated that less than twenty five arrived safely in England. Two warships were sunk, and the rest carried off by American privateers. Eventually, British commerce was crippled. The loss of ships and capture of experienced seamen drove up the price of transport. Insurance rates were at prohibitory levels. No ship flying an English flag was safe. British merchants began to ship their goods on French transports, which was also quite expensive, but still cheaper and safer than a British ship. The British merchants were taking losses everywhere. The main reason f...
