Economic Perspective on Colonization US History

European Powers: Imperialism 1600s Europeans engage in imperialism— policy of extending a country’s authority over other peoples through –Gaining territory –Establishing economic and political supremacy.

Mercantilism – Hand-in-hand with Imperialism 16 th – 18 th centuries: Europeans use mercantilism in quest to centralize power. What is it? After feudalism, it was a system based on national policies of –Getting gold and silver –Setting up colonies –Establishing merchant marine –Developing industry and mining. –Using colonies as market to sell manufactured goods.

Goal of Mercantilism Goal: “favorable balance of trade” –Make sure that nation exported more than it imported. –Goods flow out; gold flows in

How do you make Mercantilism work for you? Regulate production Control trading companies Restrict imports from other countries using: –Tariffs: import taxes –Quotas: restrictions on quantity Control raw materials and markets through colonialism.

Mercantilism and Colonies The Mother Country –Mom takes all your raw materials. –Mom forces you to buy all the goods made in mom’s country. –Mom protects the colony through “merchant marine” Keeps out the pirates and privateers

Mercantilism But is mercantilism “good for business”? –Years later, Adam Smith in 1776, would say “no” in Wealth of Nations. –Command systems interfere with free markets. –Markets free of govt interference are best for a capitalist system, which lets money flow to where it will make more money.

Labor To get all that wealth out of the colonies, the European powers needed cheap labor. –Where did they get it?

3 Types of labor (work) Free labor. Indentured servitude. Slavery.

Indentured Servitude v. Slavery Indentured ServitudeSlavery Master owned the labor of the servant Master owned labor and the person. Lasted for a set number of years. Owned for the person’s life (unless freed). Children of indentured servants didn’t USUALLY become indentured. Children automatically became slaves.

Spanish Empire: Labor Spanish needed labor for mining and plantations (sugar). –Spanish colonies could ONLY trade with Spain. –Plantations needed lots of workers. –Encomienda system set up: Conquistadors given land with permission to demand labor from Native Americans.

Spanish Empire: Labor Problem: Columbian Exchange brought diseases that wiped out Native Americans. Need for labor didn’t go away: Spanish brought slaves from Africa to do the work.

Slavery Spanish weren’t the only ones into slavery. –By 1500s Portuguese traded for slaves with African kingdoms that also employed slavery. Need for labor from Africa and need for raw materials from Americas created “triangular trade”: –Followed the sea routes from Africa to the Americas to Europe

“Middle Passage” Middle Passage: Voyage from Africa to Americas on slave ships. –By 1600 annual exports of slaves from Africa was 9,500 per year. –Hundreds crammed onto a single ship. –Millions of people died along the way through conditions. –Once they arrived, they worked the plantations. –Estimate: by 19 th century, 11 million Africans sent to Americas.

Impact of Slavery African political structures undermined. –Brain and talent drain from West Africa. –Some societies and states disappeared. –Millions lost their cultures and were forced to assimilate to new cultures.

Slavery in the English Colonies Slavery existed in ALL the English colonies. –Dutch owned slaves in New Netherland; English continued slavery in New York. –1638 African slaves came to Massachusetts. –South Carolina settlers from Barbados brought slaves with them.

In the beginning… 1619 first Africans arrived in Virginia, sold to English settlers. –Several were freed after a term of servitude. –Only a few more arrived in the next 40 years a change: slavery code in Barbados affected other English colonies. –Virginia and Maryland started passing laws recognizing the existence of slavery status.

Slavery develops Not popular in Virginia until 1690s. –Population of 75,000: 3000 African slaves 15,000 European indentured servants 57,000 free European. Massive increase in numbers started in – % of colonial population: African slaves.

Why Africans? Cut off from their homeland. –Easily manipulated and controlled. Much more used to agriculture than to hunting..