The development of the Atlantic empire contributed to the commercialisation of the British economy during the 17th-18th centuries significantly because of changing the economic priorities, modifying capital distribution principles, and transforming markets. According to Zahedieh, the Atlantic empire played the key role in designing the economic patterns used in Britain during the next century (Zahedieh 2002, p. 67).
From this point, it is possible to state that the westward expansion contributed to Britain’s economic progress in spite of the controversies associated with the development of the American colonies.
The first reason to state that the Atlantic empire changed the economic realities of Britain in the 17th century is in the fact that the focus on the progress of the American colonies’ economy resulted in reducing the pressure on resources in Britain. Settlers moved to America in order to increase their financial state and to work for improving the living conditions.
The second reason is that settlers focused on cultivating crops and on promoting the staple trade. It is possible to agree with Zahedieh’s idea that cultivation of crops and the focus on staple trades contributed to improving employment and to increasing export and profits for the American settlers and for the British (Zahedieh 2002, p. 52). Much attention should be paid to legislation to regulate the colonial trade relations.
Promoting acts to control trade relations and improving the taxation legislation, the British supported the role of England in the trade relations as an entrepot in order to gain more profits. Thus, concentrating on settlement, the British supported the colonial trade and received significant benefits.
However, the main success of the American colonies was associated with cultivating and proposing such ‘addictive’ products as tobacco and sugar. Zahedieh notes that the cultivation of tobacco was an economically advantageous strategy for the American settlers and for the British. The consumption grew along with the reduction in prices (Zahedieh 2002, p. 58).
The production of sugar also had the strategic importance. The focus on production of tobacco and sugar added significantly to supporting the British traditional market based on producing wool. The shift to using slaves for working at the sugar plantations demonstrated new approaches to acquiring the additional labour.
That is why, it is important to note that the focus on staple trades and production of tobacco and sugar made the real revolution in the economy of Britain in the 17th-18th centuries.
Paying attention to the economic opportunities provided with references to the development of the Atlantic empire, the British authorities focused on promoting the monopoly and on the active regulation of the trade relations in spite of supporting the idea of the free trade popular in the 18th century.
The British received the effective market for goods, continued to be the “source of taste and fashion” for the American settlers, and supported their country at the path of the active commercialisation (Zahedieh 2002, p. 65). These efforts and strategies can be discussed representative to understand the role of the American colonies in the progress of the British economy.
The Atlantic empire can be discussed as an example of the effective international system based on the progressive economic or trade relations between the mother country and colonies. During the 17th-18th centuries, the relations between the territories were supported to contribute to the economic progress of both the mother country and American colonies.
Reference List
Zahedieh, N 2002, ‘Economy’, in D Armitage & M Braddick (eds.), The British Atlantic World, 1500-1800, Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 51-68.