Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

also did it with the view of making profit and acquiring wealth for England.
When the English stockholders of the company founded the colony of
Jamestown in 1607 they also did it with the hope of finding gold and making
profit. 5 Subsequently, Great Britain developed economic policies that tightly
controlled its American colonies and placed them within the sphere of a
complex imperial system of commerce. 6
In the 17 th century, mercantilism was common economic practice among
European states. In accordance with mercantilist principles, Britain designed
policies essentially meant to generate wealth for the mother country; therefore,
it put its North American colonies to contribution towards the creation of a
favorable balance of trade, an essential ingredient in mercantilist theory. Like
most colonial powers, Britain “used monopolistic or protectionist regulations to
exclude rivals” from its colonies. 7 For the purpose, it established a complex
system of imperial regulations known as the navigation system that sought
monopolization of commerce, markets, and raw materials. 8
The navigation
laws which regulated the system restricted and encouraged colonial economy.
Where the products of the colonies were competitive with those of the mother
country, like the textiles industries, the British parliament introduced laws
curbing them; but where colonial economic activities were enhancing to those
of Britain, favorable laws were introduced to encourage them. This is
5 Richard Hofstadter, The United States: Conquering a Continent, 4 th Edition (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1976), p. 17-18.
6 Fieldhouse, Colonial Empires, p. 66-68.
7 Ibid., p. 25.
8 Hofstadter, Conquering a Continent, p. 31-34.
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