Changing Nature and Extent of Trade Flashcards
Explain the principles of Mercantilism.
- Belief in the benefits of profitable trading
- Britains trade could only be increased at the expense of another country
- More exports than imports
- Mercantilism ensured commercial success and kept Britain’s naval power.
Explain the principles of Protectionism.
- Taxes on imports and exports are designed to protect British producers.
What was free trade?
Trade taxes were minimised to allow merchants to compete across borders.
When was the end of the Seven Years War?
1763
Explain the situation for Britain in 1763. (4)
- The end of the seven years war between Britain and France
- Victory for Britain: The French had been kicked out of India and the British took control of Canada and North America.
- Britain was now the most dominant naval and economic power.
- The empire was still relatively small (no arrangement, lack of single system govt etc.)
What was Geopolitics in regards to empire?
- Power comes from territorial dominance of strategic areas.
What was the economic importance of the slave trade? (3)
- British ports (Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow) flourished from the trade.
- Church of England owned plantations in Barbados
- William Beckford (twice mayor of London owned 1000’s of acres of plantations in Jamaica.
Why was the slave trade abolished? (5)
- Moral uprisings
- Some religious institutes were against slavery
- It undermined the French post revolution
- Economically unstable: high death rate among slaves and expensive to run.
- Slaves began to rebel against owners.
When did Quaker abolitionists begin to petition parliament to abolish the slave trade?
1783
When was the slave trade act passed?
1807
Who wrote the book ‘Wealth of Nations’ ?
Adam Smith
When did Adam Smith publish ‘Wealth of Nations’ ?
1776
What did Adam Smith’s book criticise?
- Mercantilism and protectionism
What acts enforced mercantilism and protectionism?
The navigation Acts
When were the navigation acts passed and by who?
1651 & Oliver Cromwell
When was the Stamp act passed and what was it?
1765, It required stamps to be fixed on all formal docs and was a hefty tax.
When was the Stamp act repealed?
1766
When was the American war of Independence?
1775
Where and when did the British first experiment with Free Trade?
Ireland, 1779
What was wrong with Irish trade before free trade?
Wealth was concentrated in a small portion of landowners and more peasants and middle class were poor.
Who didn’t benefit from free trade and why?
- Big chartered companies e.g East India Company.
- The old system allowed them to set their own tariffs and control trade.
When was the acquisition of Singapore?
1819
Why were the British interested in Singapore? (3)
- The trade route from India was long, expensive (high tariffs from the dutch) and dangerous (Pirates).
- The British wanted a port in between.
- EIC had lost their monopoly to trade with India but not China.
