Bounties, or grants, were implemented by Great Britain in the eighteenth century to encourage the production of vital or hard-to-obtain goods. Although rewards were given for the production of silk and indigo, the most important bounties in North Carolina were those paid for naval stores, including tar, pitch, turpentine, and rosin. The practice of paying bounties for naval stores, which were essential to maintain Britain's large fleet, began in the early 1700s with the realization that it was dangerous to depend entirely on northern countries (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark) for such goods. Knowing that England's colonies could not hope to compete commercially with these nations without governmental assistance, Parliament in 1705 offered a bounty of four pounds sterling per ton of tar and pitch produced and three pounds sterling for rosin and turpentine.
Copyright Notice: This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.
Additional Resources:
"An Act for encouraging the Culture of Hemp and Flax, and other Purposes." Complete revisal of all the acts of Assembly, of the province of North-Carolina, now in force and use. Newbern [N.C.]: James Davis. 1773. p.314-315. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/complete-revisal-of-all-the-acts-of-assembly-of-the-province-of-north-carolina-now-in-force-and-use-together-with-the-titles-of-all-such-laws-as-are-obsolete-expired-or-repealed-with-marginal-notes-and-references-and-an-exact-table-to-the-whole/1955563?item=2094619 (accessed November 9, 2012).
Citation
Towles, Louis P. "Bounties." NCpedia. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. Accessed on December 12th, 2024. https://www.ncpedia.org/bounties.