STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE
I. British Trade Policies
A. Introduction to Mercantilism -- economic theory of the 16th-18th centuries

  1. This theory dominated European thought and promoted economic regulation (commerce, industry and labor) by a government in order to increase the power of the state at the expense of other nations.
  2. Mercantilism provided a favorable climate for the growth of capitalism.
  3. Its objectives included:
    a. Accumulate an adequate stock of precious metals (gold, silver) either by mining or trading because a nation's wealth = accumulated metals.
    b. Protect home industries against foreign competition;
    c. Enable home industries to compete successfully in foreign markets by assuring the supply of necessary raw materials (from colonies) and low production costs (subsistence labor);
    d. Create a prosperous and powerful national state or self-sufficing empire.
  4. Necessary Components
    a. A "favorable" balance of trade was defined as an excess of exports over imports;
    b. Colonies were essential sources of raw materials and markets for finished products;
    c. A large population was needed in order to insure an adequate labor supply, an increasing market, and sufficient man power for the military;
    d. Manufacturing was favored over agriculture, processing over raw materials, the mother country over the colonies ;
  5. The government assumed the authority to pass laws which regulated trade between the colonies and other countries and between the colonies and the mother country
    a. Such laws limited colonial manufacturing, favoring England over its colonies.
    b. Under its authority to regulate trade, Parliament aided the Enclosure Movement .
    (1) English farmland was enclosed with fences for the pasturing of sheep in order to produce wool for the growing textile industry;
    (2) Peasant farmers became drifters from city to city, seeking employment but only a few were absorbed into other industries, giving a false impression of too much population for colonies.

II. Mercantilism Implemented
A. Early Attempts 1620

  1. Parliament under the Stuarts left colonial economic development up to the crown.
  2. By agreement, in exchange for 1 shilling per pound tax, tobacco would not be grown in England.

III. Anglo-French Colonial Rivalry to 1763
A. Rivalry over Fisheries 1497-1604

  1. Although John Cabot and his crew were the first Europeans to have visited the Newfoundland coast, the French had fished these waters since 1504 and were in a dominant position by 1540.
  2. After 1560 Portuguese and Spanish fishermen entered these waters.
  3. Until 1578, England remained dependent upon Iceland fisheries.
  4. English fishermen introduced "dry fishing" in the Newfoundland area, which freed them from a dependence upon sources of solar salt from France and Portugal.
  5. France sought land bases on which to dry their catch, but the best bases in Newfound-land were already taken by England.

IV. Struggle for Empire
A. First Two Intercolonial Wars - Although beginning in Europe (England vs France + Indian Allies), neither side was committed seriously yet to providing many troops in North America, the value of which was not yet perceived.

  1. William III (1685-1702) - War of League of Augsburg (May 1689-Sept 1697)
    a. Advantages
    (1) French - centralized control, strategically placed forts, the most formidable army on the European continent at the time, numerous Indian allies and fur traders with extensive knowledge of the forests and trails in the area of conflict.
    (2) English - numerical superioity (100,000+ in New England to 12,000 in New France 1688), allies among the Iroquois, naval superiority (esp when allied with the Dutch) and trading and financial superiority.
    b. Outbreak of Hostilities
    (1) European phase - when William III joined the League of Augsburg and the Dutch in resistance to Louis XIV's invasion of the Rhenish Palatinate (Sept 1688), war began.
    (2) In America, the English and French fought on Hudson Bay and the Iroquois and French fought in the St Lawrence area.
    (3) The only successful English colonial operation was the seizure of Port Royal (May 1690) by an expedition from Massachusetts under Sir William Phips
    c. The inconclusive Treaty of Ryswick (Sept 1697) turned the question of the Hudson Bay over to a commission.
  2. Anne (1702-14) - War of Spanish Succession [Queen Anne's War ] May 1702 - Apr 1713
    a. Outbreak of Hostilities
    (1) To prevent cooperation between France and Spain after Charles II of Spain (Nov 1700) died, Grand Alliance , established in Sept 1701, declared war on France in May 1702.
    (2) In New England, the war followed a similar pattern as the previous conflict.
    b. Treaty of Utrecht April 1713
    (1) Newfoundland, Acadia and Nova Scotia were ceded to Britain, although France retained Cape Breton Island and the St Lawrence islands. (Inexact boundaries for Acadia, Hudson Bay and the interior paved the way for later conflicts).
    (2) Britain also received the Assiento , a contract allowing the South Sea Co. to import into the Spanish colonies 4,800 Africans per year for 30 years and one trading ship per year.