oversupply of tobacco in the warehouses, English and Scots merchants
limited further credit extensions and called for repayment of
long-outstanding loans. Within Virginia the centers of tobacco
production shifted from the older, worn-out Tidewater lands to the
newer, richer soils along the Fall Line, on the Piedmont, and in the
Northern Neck. A few men like George Washington switched from tobacco
to wheat, corn, barley, and rye. Most Tidewater planters did not
realize fully what was happening to them, presuming at first that they
were just in another swing of the unpredictable tobacco business cycle,
and were not caught in a situation which would be permanent. Eventually
the total debt of Virginians, most of it owned by Tidewater planters,
to Scots and English merchant houses reached L2,000,000, equalling the
total private debts of the other 12 colonies.

One other economic factor was apparent to many Virginians--they were
living beyond their means, building fine houses, furnishing them with
exquisite taste, wearing the latest fashions, riding in expensive
carriages, and occasionally over-extending themselves at the gaming
tables and race courses. Although these personal extravagances added to
the debt structure, they would not have been so significant if they had
not been accompanied by a lack of business ability among some of the
younger Tidewater planters. The sons did not seem to have inherited the
same business acumen and hard-driving business instincts of their
fathers and grandfathers. Having grown up in a period of affluence,
they were eternally optimistic that it would continue, that their
setbacks were temporary, and their social positions were secure. Like
men everywhere when their private world begins to break down, they
tended to strike out at those closest to them--the merchants who
extended the credit, the tobacco buyers who would not pay top prices,
and the politicians in power. It was not the best of times for London
to be asking some Virginians to pay new and quite different taxes.

Had the opposition to taxes been led mainly by those who faced bleak
economic futures or the loss of once-powerful positions and declining
family status, one could agree with those who say that the reaction of
Virginians to the Currency, Sugar, Stamp, or Tea Acts was primarily
economic. However, there were many other rising young leaders, families
which had managed their estates, and men who lived within their means,
paid