Thomas Pownall - Post-war Years

Post-war Years

In July 1780 Pownall anonymously published an essay titled A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe. This widely published document gained Pownall attention throughout Europe; the anonymity of its author was compromised by the use of extended passages from Administration of the Colonies. The essay propounded instructions to Europe's leaders on how to deal with a newly-independent United States, pointing out that America's independence and rapid population growth would have a transformative effect on world trade. He proposed that European leaders meet to establish worldwide regulations for what was essentially free trade.

Pownall continued to maintain an interest in the United States after the war ended, although he never returned. He sought without success a commission in the Massachusetts militia, mostly as a formality so that he could present it during his European travels. He continued to write essays (new ones and revisions to older ones), and published an updated version of his 1755 map. He contributed articles to the journal of the Antiquarian Society of London, to which he had been elected in 1768. Among his writings he proposed more rigorous approaches to archaeology (then largely the province of amateur "gentleman collectors"), more directly tying it to the study of history.

In his later years Pownall was introduced to Francisco de Miranda, a Spanish activist who favored Latin American independence from Spain. According to historian William Spence Robertson, significant arguments advanced by Miranda in his later efforts are traceable to Pownall's influence. Pownall also assisted Miranda explicitly, cultivating connections in the British government as he attempted to advance the independence agenda. Pownall's last major work was a treatise again arguing for free trade, and explicitly calling for British support of Latin American independence as a way to open those markets to British and American trade. Pownall died at Bath on 25 February 1805, and was interred in the church at Walcot.