Vol. I Chapter 3
The Virginia Company
The government's view of the colonies was that the upper class should act as feudal lords, and the excess poor should be exported to the colonies, relieving overpopulation in England. The colonists would provide products from the New World to the trading companies.
In 1604, the government raised customs duties. This made smuggling more profitable. Tobacco became an important item for smuggling. But Parliament was starting to oppose government and wanted to abolish the monopoly trading companies. Sir Edwin Sandys was for free trade and against monopolies, and spoke out for liberty in trade and the right of subjects to work in their industry without restraint.
The royal government got money from monopoly grants and tariffs using its prerogative power. This helped fund the government if Parliament failed to vote funds. If the king failed to call Parliament into session, then Parliament could not vote funds for the royal administration. The king tried to get independent streams of income to be independent from Parliament. Parliament protested these extensive royal prerogatives. Common law courts and Magna Carta provided some opposition to government interference in trade. The common law courts stopped enforcing the monopolies when they could get away with it.
There was conflict between England and the Dutch. These conflicts usually arose over trade and rights to the sea. The Dutch jurist and father of internation law, Hugo Grotius, wrote Mare Liberum to support freedom of the seas.
English shipowners wanted a navigation act requiring English trade to use English ships, which were losing business to the more efficient Dutch. The English were less efficient because their ships were required to be convertible into warships. This made the ships more expensive to operate, with lower cargo capacity. The merchants were against this because it would impose greater costs on them.
The Virginia colony had a slow start. The indentured servants were effectively slaves for a term of years and this reduced the incentive to work. The Virginia Company imposed communistic living where all were required to work, but the product of the work was equally shared. This was a great disincentive to work, and martial law had to be imposed to force people to work.
In 1619, the Virginia Company went to Edwin Sandys, a Puritan. The laws were relaxed and land was given out to settlers. Scarcity turned to plenty in a short time as individuals were allowed to keep what they produced. A general assembly was formed of freemen of the colony.
Tobacco became an important crop for export to England. Virginia tobacco had been inferior to that introduced by the Spanish, but a way was found to make Virginia tobacco acceptable to European tastes. This was a big factor in saving the colony. But tobacco cultivation required much larger estates than other types of farming.
A headright system was developed where land was given out to those who could bring over more settlers. The wealthy could pay for many immigrants to come over, and thereby acquired much more land. This resulted in large plantations owned by a small group of rich people. These large plantations needed labor, and would not be economically viable without forced labor. This led to the importation of Negro slaves and the establishment of slavery for generations to come.
England did not want French or Spanish settlements in North America. The Virginia Company was used to attack settlements and shipping of foreign powers.
The government's view of the colonies was that the upper class should act as feudal lords, and the excess poor should be exported to the colonies, relieving overpopulation in England. The colonists would provide products from the New World to the trading companies.
In 1604, the government raised customs duties. This made smuggling more profitable. Tobacco became an important item for smuggling. But Parliament was starting to oppose government and wanted to abolish the monopoly trading companies. Sir Edwin Sandys was for free trade and against monopolies, and spoke out for liberty in trade and the right of subjects to work in their industry without restraint.
The royal government got money from monopoly grants and tariffs using its prerogative power. This helped fund the government if Parliament failed to vote funds. If the king failed to call Parliament into session, then Parliament could not vote funds for the royal administration. The king tried to get independent streams of income to be independent from Parliament. Parliament protested these extensive royal prerogatives. Common law courts and Magna Carta provided some opposition to government interference in trade. The common law courts stopped enforcing the monopolies when they could get away with it.
There was conflict between England and the Dutch. These conflicts usually arose over trade and rights to the sea. The Dutch jurist and father of internation law, Hugo Grotius, wrote Mare Liberum to support freedom of the seas.
English shipowners wanted a navigation act requiring English trade to use English ships, which were losing business to the more efficient Dutch. The English were less efficient because their ships were required to be convertible into warships. This made the ships more expensive to operate, with lower cargo capacity. The merchants were against this because it would impose greater costs on them.
The Virginia colony had a slow start. The indentured servants were effectively slaves for a term of years and this reduced the incentive to work. The Virginia Company imposed communistic living where all were required to work, but the product of the work was equally shared. This was a great disincentive to work, and martial law had to be imposed to force people to work.
In 1619, the Virginia Company went to Edwin Sandys, a Puritan. The laws were relaxed and land was given out to settlers. Scarcity turned to plenty in a short time as individuals were allowed to keep what they produced. A general assembly was formed of freemen of the colony.
Tobacco became an important crop for export to England. Virginia tobacco had been inferior to that introduced by the Spanish, but a way was found to make Virginia tobacco acceptable to European tastes. This was a big factor in saving the colony. But tobacco cultivation required much larger estates than other types of farming.
A headright system was developed where land was given out to those who could bring over more settlers. The wealthy could pay for many immigrants to come over, and thereby acquired much more land. This resulted in large plantations owned by a small group of rich people. These large plantations needed labor, and would not be economically viable without forced labor. This led to the importation of Negro slaves and the establishment of slavery for generations to come.
England did not want French or Spanish settlements in North America. The Virginia Company was used to attack settlements and shipping of foreign powers.
posted by Jason Livermore at 9:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home