American trade supremacy did not last long. In the face of stiff British competition, they gradually lost their control over the Philippine business market. This decline was due to lack of support from the U.S. government and lack of U.S. trade bases in the Orient. In 1875, Russell, Sturgis & Company went into bankruptcy, followed by Peele, Hubbell & Company in 1887. Soon after, British merchants, including James Adam Smith, Lawrence H. Bell and Robert P. Wood, dominated the financial sector in Manila.