ABSTRACT
As we have seen, colonialism was about acquiring and controlling means of natural production. I have attempted in the previous chapters to show how Europe’s pre-sixteenth-century bioproductivity problem was characterized as one of both capacity and diversity and how colonizing the tropics worked to great effect towards eliminating a problem that was, above all else, a function of geographic isolation. Through colonial administrations and government-licensed companies, European nations of limited natural means were able to expand and rapidly diversify their economies. We have seen through the lens of pre-revolutionary America in Chapter 7 that imperial governments were determined to direct the colonial economies towards primary production of those natural resources that best suited the economic purposes at home, whether this enhanced food security, reduced reliance on belligerent neighbouring nations, created trade monopolies or generated public tax revenue. The expansion of credit – both public and private – was arguably the most important factor supporting globalization because it facilitated exchange and expenditure while underpinning the military expansion needed to protect ever-expanding commercial networks.
