Makarov Egor P.,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Samara State Technical University, Samara, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Economic Demography of the Colonial Era of North America
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2019-4-1
The first British settlements in America were founded in 1607, almost 170 years before the signing of the declarations of US independence. As usual, it is believed that the need for labor resources and capital in the new land, and as a result in our economy, allowed the white population to quickly achieve a high standard of living. However, over time, the colonial life did not show a significant improvement in the quality of life of the settlers. The resource abundance factor plays an important role in the formation of colonial institutions, encourages the white population to strive for the development of production, is based on slave labor and the formation of local governments. Most colonists are satisfied with the form of relations with the metropolis, but after 1763 changes in colonial policy led to increased tensions in the relationship between the colony and the UK. The article is devoted to the economic demography of the North American colonies, which in 1776 became the United States. During the 17th–18th centuries. Britain established the largest number of colonies in North and South America, including parts of the Canadian coast and West Indies. In the same period, other European states were also involved in the process of colonization of North America. The Spain founded settlements in southwestern Florida, France mastered Quebec, and until the 1660s. The Netherlands controlled areas that would later become part of the states of New York and New Jersey. Focusing on the process of European colonization of the region leaves aside the experience of indigenous peoples who had mastered North America for thousands of years before the arrival of European pioneers. For these groups, European colonization turned out to be a destructive process. Outbreaks of European diseases, such as smallpox, quickly destroyed the local population, and the diseases themselves were brought to the continent from the time of European fishing expeditions, even before permanent settlements of Europeans were founded. When the Europeans began to establish the first settlements, they encountered the native inhabitants of the seplaces, and the constant influx of colonists found less and less resistance, which allowed them to occupy territories liberated by Indian tribes retreating deep into the continent.
Publishing: 30/08/2019
How to cite: Makarov E.P. Economic Demography of the Colonial Era of North America // Historical Courier, 2019, # 4 (6). Article 1. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2019/ISTKURIER-2019-4-01.pdf
Links: Issue 4 2019
Keywords: USA; American colonies; colonial economy;colonial demography