FEATURE
A HISTORY OF DIVORCE Part 2 Following from last month's look at the collapse of long standing and beneficial English trade agreements in the 16th century, the question ‘where did England’s maritime eyes turn to next if not Europe?’ becomes ever prominent. A question similar to that which I’m sure many of you have also been grappling with other the past years. By David Bagnall Almost exactly the same as we have done today, after exiling ourselves from the European good books, the English mercantile and political minds quickly turned themselves towards America, sending multiple colonial expeditions and scouting parties to see the lie of the land. The clearest statement about North America as a potential for developing English trade was the formation of the Plymouth and London Companies under King James I in 1606. Both were joint-stock companies, including knights, planters, settlers and merchants with the purpose of colonising and claiming the North American east coast, setting the foundations for what would develop into the Thirteen Colonies, and later the USA as we know it today. The change to our trade characteristics
40
that the colonisation of America brought to England can hardly be understated. Before 1600, English exports were 80-90% woollen cloth, solely to Europe, and though this didn’t end immediately – with the 1640 levels being almost the same – by the time the colonies had planted themselves firmly and become
fully operational, English exports looked drastically different. Under 100 years after the royal charter was given to the London and Plymouth companies, woollen cloth had dropped to below 50% of England’s total exports, diminished almost wholly by re-exporting tobacco and sugar from the Americas.
