Download Mercantilism and Colonial Governments

MUNDY 2010
Social Studies 10
 Britain, like many industrialized countries
in the 19th Century, required a constant
supply of raw materials for its factories
 Wood, furs, wheat and many other
resources were in high demand for the
growing population in Britain’s cities like
London
 Many of these materials could not be
found within the country, forcing Britain
to look to other places
 To
get a constant supply of each of these
resources, Britain would conquer lands
around the world
 Then it would create a local colonial
government to manage trade in the
resources
 Britain then gave approval to companies,
like the Hudson’s Bay Company, to gather
and ship the resources to Britain
 Companies
approved by Britain would
have to ensure that the ‘mother country’
would receive a consistent supply of each
resource
 Britain’s role was to negotiate the amount
and price for the resources – factories in
Britain were the ones to pay for these
resources for their own use
 The colonial government’s role was to
support businesses that supplied Britain
 For
Britain’s manufacturers, a constant
supply of resources meant that they
would not go out of business
 For Britain, growth of its industries meant
more jobs and more overall wealth
 For the colonies, this meant a constant
customer for the raw materials that they
could supply to Britain
 The
type of government Britain preferred
was oligarchies, where governments were
neither responsible nor representative
 Because colonial governments focused only
on growth of colony’s businesses and
exports, it largely ignored the needs of its
own people
 As well, companies in Britain had to pay
whatever prices for resources were
negotiated
 Thus, in
the mid-1800’s, Britain began to
look at the option of buying its resources
from any place that would sell for the
cheapest
 This included searching for companies
beyond its own colonies
 Hence, Britain began dropping its duties
(=import taxes) on goods from non-colonies
 This new system was known as “FREE
TRADE”
 Because
Britain now wished to look
elsewhere for cheaper resources, British
North America’s colonies no longer had
guaranteed sales for its raw materials such
as timber, furs and wheat
 As well, Britain realized that it no longer
needed to have such tight control of its
colonial governments
 Thus Britain began to impose responsible
government on its colonies so that the local
people could have control of their own
policies