Economic Ties To England
The tobacco colonies were economic entities of England and were forced to adhere to the mercantile system. Under mercantilism, England acquired natural resources and raw materials from the colonies, turned them into finished products, and then sold them, often back to the colonies, for a profit. During the colonial period, the British discouraged cotton production in America to protect its woolen and linen manufacturers. As a result, more tobacco was produced. As the populations of the tobacco colonies increased, so did tobacco exports to England. Between 1622 and 1628, tobacco imports from the tobacco colonies to England increased from 60,000 pounds to 500,000 pounds. By 1639, the figure had reached 1,500,000 pounds, and by the late 1600s, it was up to more than 20,000,000 pounds per year.
Read more about this topic: Tobacco Colonies
Famous quotes containing the words economic, ties and/or england:
“The economic dependence of woman and her apparently indestructible illusion that marriage will release her from loneliness and work and worry are potent factors in immunizing her from common sense in dealing with men at work.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“One theme links together these new proposals for family policy—the idea that the family is exceedingly durable. Changes in structure and function and individual roles are not to be confused with the collapse of the family. Families remain more important in the lives of children than other institutions. Family ties are stronger and more vital than many of us imagine in the perennial atmosphere of crisis surrounding the subject.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)
“Forced from home, and all its pleasures,
Afric’s coast I left forlorn;
To increase a stranger’s treasures,
O’er the raging billows borne.
Men from England bought and sold me,
Paid my price in paltry gold;
But, though theirs they have enroll’d me,
Minds are never to be sold.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)