ABSTRACT
THE affirmation that the Spanish colonies in America were governed under a protective and restrictive policy is a commonplace of political discussion. This affirmation is, however, little more than a statement that the Spanish colonies were governed in accordance with ideas which were generally accepted at the time. The Spanish system of colonial administration was not an entirely isolated instance of commercial restriction. England, in dealing with her foreign possessions, reserved to herself monopolies, limited the industrial and commercial freedom of her dependencies, and aimed to have her will and not the normal laws of social activity determine the economic destiny of the colonists. She expected, by monopolizing the raw material produced in her colonies, to cheapen the cost of her manufactures, to dominate the foreign markets, and thus to establish her economic supremacy at the expense of her dependencies. Like England, Spain aimed to prevent the industrial independence of her colonies. But she went a step farther than England. England sought from her colonies the greatest possible amount of raw material, the products of agriculture. Spain’s action even tended to discourage rather than to promote agriculture. Whatever extension was made in the number of articles cultivated in the Spanish colonies, or whatever improvement was effected in the method of production was due to individual initiative instead of governmental encouragement; and whatever laws were formed respecting this subject contributed to restrict rather than to advance production.
