While Canadian legal historians have long been attuned to the importance of British legacies in the development of Canadian law, they have been reluctant to explore the deep history of imperial engagement in the period prior to the founding of Halifax in 1749. The benefits were expected to be economic, social, geopolitical and religious: enhancing commerce at home, expanding a monarch's sphere of influence abroad vis-a-vis rival sovereigns, and evangelizing heathen nations. The charters had to enable the creation of governance structures for new polities, provide some guidance about relations with aboriginal peoples, and address the issue of rights to land for potential settlers. The charters, in Christopher Tomlins' account, both reflect and reinforce the holy trinity of manning, planting and keeping that defines native peoples as exterior to the great work of improvement. The colonies south of Maine were from the beginning agricultural colonies and competed for space with the native people who relied on both agriculture and hunting.