Jarrod Tasnady 9/20/14 Economics played a huge role in the establishment of European colonies in North America. From the beginning in settlements such as Jamestown and Plymouth went nearly extinct. They were saved by advancements in the economy. Due to agricultural discoveries farmers were able to produce a high demand in tobacco. This is what led to the establishment of not only Jamestown and Plymouth but as well as many other future settlements.
The transatlantic trade route connected all three countries and was very useful to Europe to import and export corn and potatoes; for the Americas to export and import food and supplies from Europe; for Africa to import food and supplies as well from Europe to keep afloat the slave trade. This trade route was best known as the triangular trading system. The first leg was from Europe to Africa, where supplies was carried to trade and sell. The second leg was called the middle passage which was from African ports to the new world where the European ships were already packed with slaves to drop off. Then the ship returned to Europe with supplies to keep up their mercantile
However, after the war and after George Grenville came into office in 1764, things changed. The House of Commons in England decided that they could now use the colonies to help build their economy up. So they passed several acts that included the Sugar Act (1764), Quartering Act (1765), and the Stamp Act (1765). Politically and economically these acts had a major affect on the colonists. The Sugar Act, taxes on all types of sugar, and the Stamp Act, taxes on all paper, were attempts to gain revenue directly from the colonies.
How does tobacco link Britain’s empire and America’s development from 1600 onwards? It was the "staple" of the Chesapeake colonies in a broader sense than any other staple the world has known. For, in the ancient province, all the processes of government society and domestic life began and ended with tobacco. [1] In 1612 John Rolfe, an Englishman sent with the Virginia Company, found that tobacco would grow well in Virginia and sell profitably in England. This was wonderful news considering that many of the Jamestown colonists had died or suffered miserably as their farming efforts had been relatively unsuccessful.
Tobacco production not only helped the colony grow prosperous, it also created new opportunities for over 90,000 immigrants who moved to the colony as indentured servants. Similarly, the New England economy was based on trade in the fishing and timber industries because of easy access to ports and wooded areas. Like Chesapeake families, New England colonists farmed, however, New Englanders practiced subsistence farming, small family farms which produced only enough food for a single family’s use. Another similarity between the two colonies is how both colonies dealt with the Indians. In the Virginia colony, Powhatan’s brother, Opechancanough, led a surprise attack on Virginia colonists and murdered over 300 of the 1,200 men in the colony.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, European imperialism radically changed the boundaries inside the continents of Africa and Asia incorporating them into their developing colonial empire. This was the same scenario for British imperialism in India. Over time, the colony and colonizer’s opinion on imperialism evolves, as both experience the downside and upside of colonialism. Britain, mother country of India, had benefitted very much from their colony and dramatically improved the quality of life in India. (doc1) (doc4) Through India, Britain was able to obtain tropical produce for their citizens.
They were able to gain things like corn and potatoes, but they also brought crops and trade products along with them to the Americas. They introduced horses as well as wheat and cotton. The expansion of trade to the Americas not only benefited Europe, but also benefited the New World by introducing trade crops that are still huge in America today. Without the discovery of these products, Europe’s economy would not have skyrocketed and they would not be as prominent a continent as they are today. The slave trade began around the mid-1600s with the European colonies that were built in the Americas.
There are many motives for which the Europeans pursued imperialism in the 19th century, either for national prestige and glory, social Darwinism or even the White Man’s Burden. However the motive for which is most importantly noted for is profit from trade of materials and slaves from the new colonies of the European Empires. The colonizers traded slaves from Africa to the Americas and gained access to raw materials spread all throughout Africa. Europeans began conquering Africa and Asian in the early 16th century. Portugal was the 1st country to colonize.
In the north, there many promoted industry; shipbuilding industry had become the foremost industrial sector. Down in the south, plantation economy is a top priority to with goods of crops, such as tobacco and sugar cane, they mainly supply the European market. After the war against French, British government increased some unfair taxes in the colonists. "The war had saddled Britain with
By the mid-19th Century the USA was growing westwards. The Northern states of the USA were become more industrialised and began to catch up with the South in economic terms. The South on the other hand, remained agricultural and grew rich on cotton and tobacco sales to Europe. Their economy was still based on slavery. This economic divergence led to tensions.