How Did The English Colonists Respond To The Foreign Trade Dbq

In the 18th century, Great Britain, France, and Spain established numerous colonies in Latin America and expanded their frontier. In these established colonies, trade occurred in profitable amounts with the colonies and the mother country. However, policies were made to control foreign trade and restricted that all products be only sent to Europe. As a result, colonists began to smuggle goods to make a vast income eventually this became a problem. Nevertheless, various reactions made by the government and people to smuggling were present.

In the Caribbean, during the 18th century, colonists began to smuggle merchandise for various causes. For instance, French merchants sold products at a really low price to make a hefty profit. However, the

The instigator of document two, for example, states “The French merchants of Dominica could sell these French goods much cheaper than the English could possibly sell British products.” Clearly, the author states that the French sold products at a low cost and the British sold their products at a higher cost than the French. Logically, people would buy products that are cheap; since the French had a cheap price they made vast revenue than the British. The author continues by saying, “The English merchants begged me to put a stop to this infamous trade, because it hurt their ability to make money and get ahead.” Here, the author explains, that the French price were so low, that the British barley sold any of there products and were losing money. This shows that the smuggled products sold very nicely and was sold less than British products. In addition, Richard Tyrell being a British admiral shows the problem of smuggling has caused Britain to lose money because they were not buying native products and also their products were not being sold. Furthermore, since Tyrell’s British and the British products weren’t being sold, he wanted the French to stop smuggling goods in so Britain can make a profit. Nevertheless, merchants continued to illegally sell products and

Some people were promoting smuggling such as document 8. While, some people were against smuggling like document three. However, document eight shows that some people began to join in the smuggling activities to gain some wealth. Furthermore, some people prioritized monetary gain over public image. In addition, people cared about money and wealth. Nevertheless, some people supported smuggling. Other people were against it. For instance, document three shows that some people were smuggling slaves, and since there was no labor force plantations got ruined. However, the plantation owners wanted to stop the smuggling of slaves. Therefore, they “cried” to the government to stop these smugglers from ruining their wealth and plantation. Clearly, people had mixed responses on smuggling as a whole. Some people were against it, while some people promoted