Jamestown: The Development Of Capitalism In Colonial America

By 1607, the British colonized Jamestown, the first successful English settlement in North America. However, the British were so far away from North America. Because of how far they were from North America, they became less strict with their trade regulations with its colonists and ignored whatever the colonists did for the most part. This British policy is salutary neglect and because of it, the colonists were able to create their own governments, create a capitalist economy, and have more religious freedom. These vital principles that are rooted in American society, were uniquely developed by the British colonies to some extent by 1754. The government became more democratic and representative throughout their people due to the large sum

The triangle trade encouraged slavery and using African slaves to work on plantations and other jobs for joint-stock companies. Also, colonists were able to exported products such as sugar, tobacco, rice, cotton, mahogany and indigo which benefited their economy. Colonial America began to depend on many natural resources and created industries in order to create products and gain wealth and social mobility. In the southern colonies, they developed a capitalist economy primarily by tobacco. Cultivators on plantations would compete with one another to make as much tobacco in order to sell more and in turn increase their wealth. Then when prices dropped, less developed farmers would go out of business and more developed farmers would buy the land in order to gain more resources to grow tobacco. Essentially, this ideal of supply, demand, and strategy is the development of capitalism in the southern colonies. The change from Mercantilism to Capitalism also led to the development of more bigger trading centers. Cities such as Boston, New York City, Charleston, and Philadelphia were major trading centers for the Europeans and colonists to trade and sell their products. Most importantly, colonists by the 1750’s believed in the Entrepreneurial Ethos which states that if people pursue their desires competitively, they can from a natural market of producers and consumers to everyone’s advantage. This idea

Due to the huge sum of land available in North America for the colonists, there were more diverse religions and ideas that resulted in the Great Awakening as well as the development of more religious freedom in the middle and southern colonies. At this time, most of empires would stick to a certain religion and have strict guidelines for people to follow. However, in the middle colonies such as Pennsylvania, there was a lot more religious toleration and compare to other parts of the world. In Penn society, there was no restriction on immigration and almost anybody besides the Catholics and Jews could be accepted in its society and hold office. Also, the Great Awakening was a major event that to some extent, the British colonies would be able to develop into a unique society. The Awakening led to many religious groups of people such as Baptists and New Presbyterians. Some people began to live together in harmony, create diversity within communities, create new colleges such as Columbia, Rutgers, and Brown as well as people assuming new responsibilities in religious affairs. This movement and its results were unheard of in most of the world. Because of the Great Awakening and the religious toleration within the middle and southern colonies, the British colonies established a unique society to a certain