Abstract
Post-medieval colonial empires emerged before the Industrial Revolution. They came in succession, and among them the British Empire formed the cradle of industrialization. This chapter selectively reviews the process, which was untidy and brutal for millions of people. It also discusses some of the commercial tools, such as the joint stock company, that helped Britain (and the Netherlands) to expand.
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Notes
- 1.
Malthus (1798: 32).
- 2.
- 3.
Kumar (2016).
- 4.
Campbell (1995: 4).
- 5.
Headrick (2012).
- 6.
Schmoller (1884: 65–66).
- 7.
Malanima (2010).
- 8.
Stannard (1992).
- 9.
- 10.
Anderson and Gifford (1991: 100).
- 11.
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch granting permission and principals of organization and activity for an individual or legal person. Until recent centuries, a royal charter was the only legal foundation that allowed the incorporation of a collection of individuals into a single legal entity. The English and subsequent United Kingdom issued over 1000 charters, starting with the charter that founded the University of Cambridge in 1231.
- 12.
Garraty (1979).
- 13.
Raleigh set up a colony of about 100 men on the east coast of North America, on land he named Virginia, after Queen Elizabeth I, who, being unmarried, was known as the “Virgin Queen.” These settlers only lasted a year before returning home. Raleigh had become a member of the landed gentry after he led military expeditions in Ireland and confiscated the lands of the Irish natives in 1583. He received a charter from Elizabeth I to explore and colonize Virginia. However, the attempt was not successful, and neither were his subsequent attempts in today’s Guyana and Venezuela to find El Dorado, the famed legendary city of gold. Gilbert secured Catholic funds and a patent from Elizabeth I in order to seize land in North America. His expeditions, however, bore little real fruit.
- 14.
Garraty (1979).
- 15.
Lopez (1976).
- 16.
The initial Spanish and Portuguese action also featured a public-private-partnership flavour. Initial expeditions of de Gama and Columbus were financed by the crown. Later, the booties obtained from the Portuguese and Spanish plunders were legalized by royal charters granted to warrior-entrepreneur seamen. The charters defined the area of plunder and the share of proceeds to be left to the treasury in case of profits.
- 17.
Charter of Carolina, 24 March 1663.
- 18.
Robins (2006).
- 19.
Robins (2006).
- 20.
Memorandum on the Census of British India (1872), presented to both houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.
- 21.
Mitchell (1975).
- 22.
Robins (2006).
- 23.
De Vries (2012).
- 24.
Robins (2006).
- 25.
Tharur (2015).
- 26.
National Geographic. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/videos/dutch-shipbuilding/.
- 27.
Schmoller (1884: 74).
- 28.
William II, Prince of Orange was the stadtholder of the United Provinces and its leader throughout the process of the Netherlands’ rise.
- 29.
Davis (1954: 151–152).
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Yülek, M.A. (2018). The Pre-Industrial New World Order: Colonial Empires on Which the Sun Never Set. In: How Nations Succeed: Manufacturing, Trade, Industrial Policy, and Economic Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0568-9_2
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