Why was America colonized by the British? How did it benefit them?

Question

Umm, can't go much deeper than the title on this one.

Answer 1

Right around the year 1500 by Christian reckoning technology enabled Europeans to cross the Atlantic where they found a Native population lacking gunpowder & the technology to make weapons from iron. Driven by a lust for gold & precious metals, and later on things suchg as furs, but not initially, these Europeans subjucated (raped & killed) the Natives and seized their lands. Spanish explorers landed in the Caribbean and then moved on to conquer what is now Mexico, Central America and South America.

The British first unsuccessfully attempted to colonize the region of the Carolinas, and then more successfully Virginia. Initially the British wanted wealth - - - Gold & precious stones, when those items failed to materialize they realized that by getting Europe hooked on nicotine via tobacco they could make a good profit by harvesting tobacco. Much to lazy to do this task on their own, they soon imported ***** slaves from Africa, and expaned their exploitation of the soil by expanding into rice & indigo and much much later cotton harvesting. Further north in what is now Massachusetts a group called The Puriatns settled in an effort to build a new world for themselves, one in which they could practive their religious beliefs and gain greater wealth then they could if they had stayed in England which was becoming over crowded and its soil exhaunsted by impractical farming methods. Colonizing America benefited Britain in many ways and not all of those ways were realized easilly or at all until long after // \\ from the Southern colonies they received tobacco (weed) and in time rice & indigo and pine products such as turpentine, and the growth of the New ENgland colonies meant markets for finnished British goods and in time New England, Pilgrims being much more industrious than the Gentlemen-Adventures who settled Virginia, New England began providing timber... Much later furs from the interior of America were also valued, but that came LATER, when Canada was in British hands.

Britain also benifitted in ways scarse imagined. In truth people are more hooked on sugar than tobacco and the sugar plantations of the Caribbean, also worked by African Slvaes, these colonies were more valuable to Britain then was America BUT America ended up supplying needed produce and grain to the Caribbean, and later the industrious New Englanders began processing sugar into molasses and rum (sugar & alcohol two potent addictions), and these products were welcomed in England.

Peace............... pppppffffffffffffffffttttttttttttttttzzzzzzzzzz

Answer 2

Furs were a part of it. Tobacco became a cash crop in the early 1600s soon after the Jamestown colony became fully established and settled. Even more important were ships' stores - tar, pitch, hemp for ropes, and timber for masts all of which were critical for Britain's lead in merchant shipping and warships. Cotton, indigo, rice, and rum were valuable commodities from America, and slaves could be sold to American colonists especially in the South during the 1700s.
America was a money maker for many British interests.
It was also an outlet for excess British population - especially dissenters who wanted to practice their own religions - the Puritans in New England, the Quakers in Pennsylvania, and the Catholics in Maryland. These people caused problems at home in Britain, but they were sources of trade and profit in the American colonies.

Answer 3

A little more on the fur trade. In the 1550s and 1600s England was experiencing what we now call the little ice age. Winters were much longer and much colder than they are now - the River Thames regularly froze over. Furs were necessary to keep warm and North America could supply these in abundance. The hazardous voyage was financially well worth it!

Answer 4

Without the Western Power, We would be like the Chinese because since China is full of dynasties in their history from Xia to Qing... Philippines will be a powerful country like China, but Philippines must survive to not become Communist like China and Vietnam today...

Answer 5

Well.. you take a ship, land, pick up some stuff then go home and sell it. North America was largely unpopulated and very rich in resources, their was land to be settled on, lumber, furs, mining - you name it. Wouldn't you like to own a few hundred acres of land?

Answer 6

They got rich on the fur trade. Empires were built on trapping and exporting the furs to Europe. Finding new sources of furs is what spurred the exploration of North America.

Answer 7

Thanks for the answers.