s passed in 1660 which struck a deadly
blow at the prosperity of Virginia. Under its provisions all goods sent
to the colonies, even though of foreign growth or manufacture, were to
be exported from England, and all tobacco, sugar, wool, etc., produced
in the colonies, must be shipped only to England or to her
dominions.[383]

Thus were the colonies sacrificed upon the altar of greed. The new act
injured the Virginia planters in several ways. Since all their tobacco
must now be brought to English ports, they could no longer seek the most
advantageous markets. Had the demand for the commodity in England been
more elastic, the consequences of this provision might not have been
disastrous. Declining prices would have so stimulated the demand that
the English could have consumed the entire crop. But the King's customs
kept up the price to the consumer, and made it impossible for the
merchants to dispose of the vast quantities of the leaf that had
formerly gone to Holland and other countries.[384] Moreover, the
varieties sold to the Dutch were not popular in England, and could not
be disposed of at any price. Soon the market became so glutted that the
merchants refused to take more than half the crop, leaving the remainder
to rot upon the hands of the planters.

There followed in Virginia a sharp decline in prices. The Dutch had
given the colonists three pence a pound for their tobacco.[385] A few
years after the Restoration the planters considered themselves fortunate
if they could dispose of their crops at a half penny a pound. Much was
sold at a farthing.[386] Now since tobacco was the staple product of
Virginia and the main support of the people, this rapid decline in its
value was disastrous. Frequent complaints were sent to England that the
colonists could not maintain themselves and their families upon the
meagre returns from their tobacco. "Twelve hundred pounds is the medium
of men's yearly crops," wrote Secretary Ludwell in 1667, "and a half
penny per pound is certainly the full medium of the price given for it."
This made an average income for each planter of but fifty shillings.
When the poor man had paid his taxes for the necessary support of the
government, very little remained to him to clothe his wife and children.
"So much too little," he adds, "that I can attribute it to nothing but
the mercy of God, that he has not fallen into mutiny and
confusion."[387] In 1673 the Governor and the Council declared that