4.3 how significant was imperial expansion between 1625 and 1688 to the economy

Question 1

why colonise north america and jamaica

Answer 1

raw materials (cane sugar, tobacco, men for slavery)
prospect of discovering preciuos metals
develop new societies for dissenters
create markets for english exports
could regulate world trade and control economic development more effectively
Barry Coward argues cure overpopulation in england and open new markets
can penalise your opponents trade wise (eg DUTCH)

Question 2

very first early colonisation 1500s

Answer 2

1585-6 Sir Walter Raleigh - Virginia
adventurers rather than labourers 
1589 Sir Humphrey Gilbert - Newfoundland
failed
harsh climate, too few settlers, limited sotres, ship loss

Question 3

North America colonisation trade

Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas

Answer 3

1607 - Jamestown colony established in Virgina
lucrative tobacco trade begins - cash crop
helped british compete with dutch in North America
national economy benefitted from customs duties on imports (funded williams military campaigns)
slave trade not yet dominant, most workers = vagrants or indentured servants
majority of settlers were Anglican and Catholic (High Church)
by 1680 = scottish presbyterian church in Norfolk, Virgina

Question 4

tobacco

Answer 4

cash crop
very valuable
crimes punished in the colonies with tobacco fines up to 1,000 lbs
helped british compete with dutch in north america
maximum proposed imports of Virginia tobacco
1620: 55,000 lbs
1638: 1,600,000 lbs
by 1700 about 22 million pounds of tobacco were being exported from the american colonies

Question 5

New England colony

Answer 5

religion > trade
Providence Island Company established Puritan colonies
pym and hampden had financial interests in the company
1620: Mayflower (puritan settlers hips) arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts = received around 20,000 puritans at height of laudian persecutions
became farming and fishing communities
created markets for british fur

Question 6

Carribean (the fight for control)

Answer 6

initial conquest carries out by spain (controlled cuba as well in 1600)
1612 - bermuda occupied by british
1624 - St Kitts british start growing tobacco (under Sir Thomas Warner)
1625 - Montserrat, Antigua and Barbados under british control (from spain)
Interregnum = +british interest in carribean
Cromwell = ‘Grand Western Design’ to disrupt spanish monopoly
1655: Failed to take Hispaniola (haiti), took jamaica instead

Question 7

the control of jamaica by british

Answer 7

1660 - in full control of jamaica then granted patents to wealthy merchants and gentry to land
1670 - slave population 7,000 (by 1713 = 55000)
expected to be a tobacco colony but better suited to sugar
sugar = financially more attractive
also cocoa and coffee
Treaty of Madrid = 1670 to recognise english ships to sail freely
1688 sugar becomes extremely lucrative

Question 8

4 factors to explain growth of international trade

Answer 8

royal navy = british supremacy at sea
decline in spain (due to war and protestants)
mercantilism policy
navigation acts (to back up policy of mercantilism)

Question 9

mercantilism

Answer 9

practice of accumulating wealth through trade with other countries
done by
-building overseas empires and colonies
-restricting all but necessary imports from rivals
-create self-sufficient economy
-export surplus goods for profit
simply exports > imports

Question 10

what protected the policy of mercantilism

Answer 10

the navigation acts

Question 11

dates of the two navigation acts

Answer 11

1651

1660

Question 12

1651 navigation act

Answer 12

goods imported to english territories must be on english ships
english ship = all crew had to be at least half english
aim - create monopoly (removing the dutch importance)
Hill argues it represented a victory of national trading interests
helped english drapery companies dominate textile trade
customs revenues x3.5 from 1643 - 1659

Question 13

1660 navigation act

Answer 13

defined english and plantation ship as - 3/4 crew + captain + officers = english
colonial exports or imports = english ships
foreign merchants excluded from colonies + plantations
certain goods to be exported to england only (tobacco, sugar, indigo, ginger, cotton)
other goods could still be exported from colonies to rest of world but must be on english / plantation ship

Question 14

how navigation act 1660 was modified

Answer 14

1663 - Staple act = colonies to import european and other goods VIA england
1673 - Plantation Duty = certain goods may be exported to one colony to another for a duty but must be on english /plantation ship

Question 15

underlying problem which lead to rivalry between dutch and british

Answer 15

mare clausum vs mare liberun
closed sea (british) vs open sea (dutch)
regulated state vs free state

Question 16

areas of rivalry between britain and dutch

Answer 16

east india company 1600 vs dutch east india company 1602
-spice trade = dutch better
-Amboyna incident = english ships seized, england unable to respond
competition in america
-new amsterdam seized and became new york 1664
cmpetition in textile trade
-england exported trade to holland to eb finished, england wanted to finish its own cloth and export it
competition over fishing rights
-charles1 = exclusive claim to british waters
competition over commercial carrying trade
-promotion of engliah shipping by navigation acts

Question 17

how anglo dutch wars were there and their dates

Answer 17

FIRST 1652-1654
SECOND 1665-1667
THIRD 1672-1674

Question 18

causes of first anglo dutch war

Answer 18

1651 navigation act

29th may 1652 dutch admiral tromp refused to salute an english squadron

Question 19

course of first anglo dutch war

Answer 19

29th may 1652 dutch admiral tromp refused to salute an english squadron
7th july commonwealth declares war
cromwell becomes lord protectir and tries to end wae
= 1654 treaty of westminster

Question 20

treaty of westminster 1654

Answer 20

dutch to observe navigation acts
dutch to salute english ships in channel
william to marry mary
this prevented orange faction joining with exiled stuarts

Question 21

did the treaty of westminster work

Answer 21

no
failed to solve underlying problem
series of crises
war narrowly avoided 1658
only reason br would not go to war was political crisis at home (cromwell death)

Question 22

causes of second anglo dutch war

Answer 22

1660 navigation act
charles 2 declaring 10 mile exclusion zone for english fishing
death of mary stuart = charles 2 as guardian = fear from dutch merchants of return of orange family and trade decline
also colonial rivalry (royal charter 1663 gave royal african co monopoly over western african trade) —> dutch had previous claim to region

Question 23

course of second anglo dutch war

Answer 23

1664 skirmishes with dutch off w. african coast
1664 seizure of dutch colonies off new amsterdam
1664 blockade of dutch shipping in channel
dutch = more money and better tprepared than br (cash strapped)
1667 De ruyter’s fleet sailed up medway destroying 15 royal navy ships and captured royal charles
big effect on london as became difficult for insurers to cover expenses
Peace of Breda 1667

Question 24

causes of third anglo dutch war

Answer 24

1670 treaty of dover = offensive partnership with french vs dutch
franco - dutch war 1678
very short war (parliament restricted charles)

Question 25

how third anglo dutch war ended

Answer 25

second treaty of westminster 1667
short battles = fine as advantageous peace treaty = good (and colonies could keep economy ticking over)
BUT
long war = bad as brought london to a standstill

Question 26

how and why did anglo-dutch rivalry end

Answer 26

bad for trade
1672 - william 3 becomes stadholder for dutch republic (when married mary)
alliance with william against french (helped by revocation of the edict of nantes unifying protestants against catholic france)
1688 glorious revolution

Question 27

why and how was the east india company founded

Answer 27

beginning 17th century = dutch had monopoly on trade with the east
1600 = 242 merchants found East India Company
traveled to east for first time under Captain James Lancaster
£68,000 goods on board (inc gold and silver to trade)
Bantam established as trade post
first trade post in india established 1613
dutch executed a number of officials so started to focus more on india rather than the east indies

Question 28

problem with East India Company regarding government policy

Answer 28

East indie rulers preferred to trade in gold and silver whereas the government policy of mercantilism preferred the accumulation of gold and silver (so trade via money instead)
East India Company allowed to trade with gold and silver in the end though

Question 29

trade via East India Company (timeline of trade)

Answer 29

1626 - first shipment of Saltpetre (used in gunpowder)
1627 - pepper sold in bulk
1633 - Madras established as a trading post (quickly became centre for calico textiles
1635 - peace made with the portuguese = who controlled goa region of india (west coast trading conditions improve)
1640s - trading post established at Basra to trade with persia (trade network expanding)

Question 30

East India Company under Cromwell

Answer 30

suffered (EIC had royal sympathies)

1657 - royal charter withdrawn (so no more monopoly)

Question 31

East India Company under charles 2

Answer 31

charles 2 renewed this charter and returned £740,000 back to company
1662 - charles marries Catherine (Portugal relations improve) + her dowry inc Bombay
1660s huge demand for indian textiles = company in profit
East India Company able to loan the crown £10,000 in 1660 then £50,000 in 1667
charles turned blind eye to irreg practices (eg going against mercantilism)
1664 - first shipment of tea
1666 - great fire damaged pepper warehouse

Question 32

East India Company influence in india

Answer 32

1672 - permitted to mint coins in india
1675 - mint began production of rupee
all english in india subject to authority of company
private army created to protect english citizens + trading interests

Question 33

East India Company 1680s

Answer 33

annual profit + £600,000 (prev = £100,000)
lucrative + very important as ensured england could compete with other major european powers
1688 - popular to invest in + profits often bigger than tobacco and sugar trades

Question 34

origins worldwide of triangular trade

Answer 34

1510 - transatlantic trade begins (by spain of slaves to Hispaniola)
Spain + portugal dominate slave trade (purchase slaves from west african slave states)
1640 = no slaves in english colonies
1660 - slaves were written into law
1700 - 120,000 slaves in english colonies

Question 35

why was there an english expansion of the slave trade

Answer 35

english success in 2nd dutch war 1663
Royal Adventurers of England Trading in Africa = to take dutch trading posts
1660 - Montserrat + Antingua = plantation labour shortages = slavery to fix
1672 - Royal African Company established own ships and militia to dominate slave trade

Question 36

impact of slave trade

Answer 36

growht in plantation sucess
economic benefit from slave trade
exports of gold and silver to london = increased wealth of london (and importance of royal mint)
Gold Coast
Ivory Coast
Slave Coast
triangular system important for Liverpool, Bristol, London
1688 - RAC monopoly ended
1713 - english controlled half of slave trade when RAC allowed to supply saves to spanish carribean
RAC = politically important (15 lord mayors, 25 sheriffs were shareholders)

Question 37

Was the economy transformed between 1625 and 1688

Arguments for

Answer 37

commercial revolution 17th cent = agriculture rev and industrial re which came later
cloth trade expanded and developed
rural economy changed (putting out system)
agricultural input increased
colonial trade = bristol, london and liverpool = more important
sectors of the economy became very sophisticated (eg insurance, banking, shipbuilding)

Question 38

Was the economy transformed between 1625 and 1688

Arguments against

Answer 38

economic development ad prosperity = slow and uneven
enclosure and colonisation not always a good thing
no industrial rev (this happened later in 1750-1850)
no transformation to a rural society (this happened 1830)
waterway navigation not till 1800s
commercial sea journeys still seasonable
mainly a rural economy
ireland didn’t share development (hence revolt 1641)
scotland didn’t share prosperity until 1707 Act of Union when got protection of navigation acts
textile industry did not revolutionise - putting out system did not advance, big changes didn’t occur till 18th cent (factory system began)

Question 39

role of the crown in the economy

Answer 39

issue charters to colonise
crown colonies and company colonies
regulate economic system