The trading companies played a significant role in triggering the Navigation Acts, but it was the acts themselves that put trade in the hands of the British. Therefore, it can be judged that the Navigation Acts were the main reason for the growth of the British Empire. The Navigation Acts were the most important aspects which not only helped, but accelerated the growth of the British Empire. The Navigation Acts which began in 1650 had four major aims in its mercantile policy, to encourage the growth of a native merchant marine fleet including colonial ships, to protect English agriculture and manufacturers from foreign competition and to make as much bullion as possible. It started off by forbidding the import of all goods, unless they were imported in English ships.
Since England owned these particular areas of the New World, these colonies were very influenced and affected by their mother country. The social faults, political chaos, and economic distress in England during the early colonial years in America played a role in shaping the English colonial experience. The societal issues that were present in England during the 17th century pushed many people to go to the Americas. The overpopulation in England was a major incentive for many to move across the Atlantic. Another reason for migration was the idea of primogeniture, which allowed the eldest son to inherit the wealth; leaving others desperate and in hopes of finding riches overseas.
Between 1750 and 1850 the most important colonial possession in Asia was British India. Differing from the changes that British India brought to North America, the changes that the British made in Asia did not bring political independence. The East India Company was chartered in 1600 by the crown and was quickly made into a large powerful authority. The East India Company quickly took over India’s imports and exports in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries along with controlling the Chinese economy greatly with the power of opium imports. Britain operated on claims that their system was based on free trade but the practices that they followed showed anything but that.
SPANISH VS. BRITISH COLONIZATION Dymond Nobles HIST 1301 July 22, 2015 Exploration of the New World was the product of European empires expanding in an attempt to secure new trade routes, to find new sources of goods, and to spread the dominant religions of the respective empires. The major difference between the British and Spanish enterprises is how they were organized. Spanish exploration of the New World was led by Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de Leon. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions. Under the exploration of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish Empire explored great parts of what would become South, Central, and North America while the French and British Empires focused predominantly on North America.
For starters, the English helped and hurt themselves when they imperialized India. England took many of India’s resources and used them to improve their own economy. They “live[d] off of India while they [were there]” (Doc. 2), making extra profit out of agriculture and manufactured goods that they didn’t have to grow or build themselves. However, England had to invest a lot of money in the improvement and modernization of India.
While the English colonies were growing rapidly along the Atlantic seaboard, French fur traders and explorers were venturing deep into the heart of North America. It could be only a matter of time before the rivalries between France and England elsewhere in the world would be sharply reflected in a final struggle for the ownership of the North American continent. the primary differences between the French and English Colonization policies are the following: the French colonies treated the natives with great diplomacy, whereas the British colonies treated the natives as savages and lesser creatures. The French approach to colonization was based on integrating its colonial people into a “Greater France" through cultural assimilation and administrative centralization. on the other hand, British Indirect rule was a system where external military and tax control was operated by the British, while almost every other aspect of life was left to local pre-colonial aristocracies who had sided with the British during the conquest.
Western Europe experienced the largest amount of changes because the main countries that were becoming involved in international trade were located here. These countries include England, Spain, and Portugal. After contact had first been made with people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the first stock exchange was set up in 1538, which represented a steady economy and businesses that could be trusted to continue success within the companies. Along with the new businesses and technology, through international trade, new products were introduced to Europe such as tobacco and potatoes. Companies that focused on trade were also introduced, such as the Dutch, English, and French East India companies.
Hakluyt also pointed that the overflow of people, both in need of religious freedom and in want of more business opportunities, within England needed a place to go. America is not only perfect for dumping those excess peoples into, but also exceeds that by also bringing profit from those living in those colonies. One of the major points that Hakluyt drives home is the comeuppance to Spain by creating demand for goods and shipping, and thereby creating profit for England and away from the plundering Spanish. From the profits of the taxes and duties of the new shipping industry, Hakluyt believes a powerful navy can be built for the protection and preservation of the growing British Empire. In 1584, when Hakluyt wrote his Discourse, he says that England at the time was swarming with unemployed youths, men, soldiers, prisoners, and beggars.
Once merchants realized this, they started charging more. This then made England want to find their own way to get the tea and other goods for cheaper. Christopher Columbus sailed in 1492 in search for a faster way to India for these goods. This resulted in the discovery of North America. In the 1700s, the clipper ship was invented.
By the time the British colonies incited rebellion between them and the British in the 1770’s, they had grown to be powerful and economically independent, the population growing by a factor of eight from 1700 to 1770. British economic policy, is largely to blame for this, driving people to the new world and providing a framework for the economy of the Colonies to grow. The British would also commonly turn a blind eye to those who breached their rules and laws, and this too helped develop and diversify the American Economy. Furthermore, the adoption of a comparatively aggressive mercantilism by England led the colonies to grow much more than those of France and Spain, further pushing them out of the equation. Altogether, British Economic policy was a perfect mix of both salutary neglect and enforced protocol to spur a large amount of growth in British North America, doing so not only through just the Navigation Acts and Salutary neglect, but also the order in which they introduced new laws and regulations.