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From David Landes’s book (1999) I chose to review chapter 12 ‘Winners and Losers: The Balance Sheet of Empire’, Abacus, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, London, pp. 168-185. Firstly, I will explain the reasons behind the decline and rise of some empires in the 18th century, analysing the period between the start of the Age of Discovery and the Industrial Revolution. Further on, I will analyse the influence of Religion: Protestantism in the expansion of Capitalism and Catholicism in the demise of former prosperous economies. The empires that started the Age of Discovery, Spain and Portugal, ended up big losers; they had too much money and instead of saving and investing, they spent it.
In the 1700’s the world switched from independent to interdependent by capitalism that changed the trade industry, which was now controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the states. Interdependent meant that countries were working together to make and sell products through trade. These countries were out to get rich, by increasing the price of goods and selling them at whole price and trade. The southern countries knew they were the only ones that could grow certain crops so they were selling them for higher prices to make profits.
Nevertheless England wanted implemented economic policy known as mercantilism, which focuses on profit of trade.7 England began to pass legislation to ensure that it reaped more trade benefits from its colonial possessions.7 England passed acts that would benefit from the products being created in the new world. One significant act was the Stamp Act 1765, which imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. This stamp act created animosity between the colonies and England because the colonies believed this was just another way to get money out of the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures.8 The colonies soon wanted to be free from the reign of the British rule
The English Colonies alongside the Atlantic Coast in the 1600’s - 1700’s began with the failed attempt to establish the Roanoke Colony in Virginia, which was later surpassed by the Virginia Company, a joint stock company, that established the colony of Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay area. Following the success of the establishment of Jamestown was a series of devastating events known as the “starving period”, which caused scare food sources, conflicts with natives, and starvation that characterized the lives of the early settlers. However, once the government had a stable foundation of laws, and once people started to settle into the colonies, the menacing conditions transpired into renowned opportunities. As these opportunities arose, so did the differences amongst the colonies and the reasons for leaving England. As people continued to settle into these colonies, England found ways to become highly profitable through a system called mercantilism, which provided it with sustainable wealth.
At the time of the 1760's in the 13 Colonies, the life in the colonies was greatly better than in Great Britain. People had more freedom and rights, especially in religion at the time, but the country was developing. The colonies were fairly new, and was working becoming stronger and bigger, and at the time, the population was near 2 million, compared to Great Britain's, 6 million. The Colonies' government later became unfair and strict to the colonial people because, it was controlled by Great Britain, which possessed almost total control to the Colonist people. Each of the 13 colonies had a charter.
Chapter 2 Research Questions Directions: Use pages 30-62 to answer the following. All answers should be typed. Plagiarism of any kind will result in a zero on this assignment. Process the information from your textbook and the internet.
England hummed with social and economic change after the 17th century. The joint-stock company flourished with new investors and colonies began to form under England. Peace and unity within England, control of the Atlantic due to the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the willingness of citizens to leave provided England with many reasons to colonize. The economic theory of mercantilism arose and England began to send settlers over to the new world to colonize in efforts to increase England’s wealth and power. High levels of poverty and a surplus population led citizens to seek social mobility and economic prosperity in the new world.
In 1763 conflicts began to occur between the American colonists and British policy makers. The issues began as George Grenville, prime minister, believed that the colonists should have to obey more laws and pay a part of the expense for defending and administering the empire (Brinkley, 2012). This was an attempt to apply the principles of mercantilism to the colonies (Brinkley, 2012). From 1763 until the Revolutionary War began, the British kept making decisions of enforcement that caused more and more resentment from the American colonies. On his quest for more control over the colonists and to gain money from them, the Sugar Act and Currency act were passed in 1764.
The issue that angered colonists the most in the New World was Britain’s taxation. Towards the beginning of 1700’s, most taxes in the colonies were based on settlement assemblies and land ownerships, but the addition of taxes on trade only created more tension. Before colonists could unload the docks, they had to pay the taxes before they were allowed to get the items off the ships. Whenever someone bought goods that were traded, they were paying an unintended tax from London which was not tolerated by Americans. The distance between Britain and the colonies gave Americans more independence giving them the advantage.
The Americans lacked the freedom of trades due to the British’s triangular trade system which was a result of the advocation of Mercantilism. The reason why mercantilism exaggerated the condition in colonies was that they only protected the profits of local merchants and it limited the production of colonies and export. British merchants gained most profits among all and the monopoly of some daily life requirement rose the prices. Since the goods from British was the onlinest importing channel for the colony, the rights of decision on prices was fixed. The British regulated all trades from the colony and prices of local products which created a shock on American economic structure and made the value of the currency dropped.
In this piece of evidence, Adam Smith talks about how if someone depends on living off an upper-classman, then they are a beggar. At this time in the world, mercantilism was the main economic system for countries to be economically stable. Adam Smith talks about how capitalism is the best form for economics in a country. So, in this piece of evidence, Adam Smith says how only beggars depend on other people's resources. He shows how mercantilism is a needy form of economics and how the people who depend on the government receive meager amounts of money.
The War of 1812 (1812-1814) is arguably one of the most controversial declarations of war that the United States has ever seen. Coming down to one of the closest votes in history, the majority of Congress still decided to partake in battle. Yet what many people do not know are the actual causes of this fight taking place between the U.S. and Great Britain, and how it can all be traced back to one man’s economic plan for the future of the nation. Because of Alexander Hamilton’s outline for industrialization and international trade for the United States, Britain would take advantage of our trading routes, which undoubtedly led to the war of 1812. In fact, one could say that Alexander Hamilton’s ideas were the main cause of the cause of the war, because it was because of our ideas to trade that let Britain
From the time of King Charles II, the British monarchy has accepted the policy of mercantilism, the economic belief that a nation can only gain wealth at the expense of another; it was Britain's motivation of founding colonies. The american colonies were a wealth of resources for their mother country. For about one hundred years, 1650-1750, the British government did not strictly enforce mercantilism in the colonies; however, after the French and Indian War Britain changed its colonial policies. From the declaration of the Proclamation Line, the official end to the French and Indian War, in 1763 to the signing of the Declaration of Independance in 1776, the colonies produced several violent demonstrations showing their support for Enlightenment
This economic transformation can only be attributed to the fathers of Modernity or The Enlightenment, such as Machiavelli, due to their radical departure from ancient tradition or dogma like mercantilism. Mercantilism holds that only the advancement of state power matters, but Machiavelli contested the state’s welfare depended on its people; it’s in the states own interest to satisfy the people for political and social stability (Cahn, 153). In order to promote the general populations welfare, the state must abandon Mercantilism and embrace a more liberal system; a free market approach would entice public virtue by creating businesses, jobs, and other forms of public affluence, improving the individual status of citizens vying for more economic independence. The Industrial Revolution is a testament to that affluence; through the virtue of science and technology, fortune, or nature is conquered and humankind can be free to control their own virtues by acquiring knowledge and wisdom through nature or science (Cahn, 181). The quality of conquering nature was instilled by Machiavelli in order to demonstrate humankind’s unbound capability to thrive by accepting this new radical concept of virtue or self-interest; in this specific case, economic and scientific virtue would sustain and encourage security, pleasure, and
The Atlantic world from 1492 to 1750 experienced economic and social transformations due to new contacts among the major continents that bordered the Atlantic Ocean. Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas saw dramatic economic and social changes caused by the slave trade, the increase of trade, and the Europeans “discovery” of America. The Atlantic world experienced great Economic changes created by the new global connections established between continents that allowed the expansion of trades, slave trades, and the claiming of land. Due to the new found connections the participants of trade all over the world brought home new goods, mainly from Europe, and materials previously never seen before or goods they were in need of.
