After the great geographical discovery, Europeans soon tasted the sweetness of colonial plunder. In the vast overseas colonies, Europeans recklessly plundered cheap cash crops and marketed their own industrial products. Huge economic benefits have made these colonists full of money, but since ancient times, "horses have no night grass and no fat, people have no windfall and no wealth", and interests and risks are always accompanied by twins, so if you want to reap benefits, you must deal with risks. The British colonized Virginia (today Virginia, USA) 400 years ago, as a magical place that could make both the British cry and the British laugh.
Map of Virginia
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, the frenetic colonial psychology of the British</h1>
In England in the early 17th century, there was a passage that said that the American continent was full of gold, and even the shackles of slaves were made of gold. This is a ridiculous statement today, but at the time it attracted countless poor people who dreamed of getting rich overnight to explore the Americas.
The British government also expressed support for the boom in private colonial expeditions for the simple reason that the first was to increase domestic wealth through overseas colonization. The second is the attempt to expel Catholics from the country in disguise by opening colonies overseas. (Catholics in Europe at the time were widely persecuted by the government.)
But the British colonial zeal was poured cold water on the dismal fruits of overseas colonization. Because the British were engaged in a maritime trade war with Spain at that time, the British government organized many fleets to rob Spanish merchant ships at sea. It can be said that the human, material and financial resources of the entire British country have been invested in the construction of the navy, so it is impossible to allocate more resources to support the expansion of overseas colonies.
Anglo-Spanish Naval Battle
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > two, flee Virginia</h1>
The British won the naval battle against Spain, but the British, who had made their fortune by robbing Spanish merchant ships on the sea, could no longer sustain it with Spain's decline. Eager to make a fortune, the British pinned their hopes of sudden wealth on the colonies of the North American continent.
Before the first British colonists landed in Virginia in North America, they fantasized about Virginia as a land of moderate temperatures, fertile land, and opportunities. But after landing, I found that this feng shui treasure land is really a purgatory on earth, not only the climate is hot, but also a variety of diseases, and in winter, the clothes worn less and the arms will be frozen. So less than 5 years after the first colonists arrived in Virginia, they couldn't get by, and most of them fled back to Europe.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, tobacco revived Virginia full of blood</h1>
Tobacco is a magical thing, it is not only refreshing, but also addictive, and most importantly because of its huge profits, it can also be recognized by the British state.
In 1617, tobacco found in South America was cultivated in North America. Coincidentally, Virginia's climate and soil are particularly suitable for growing tobacco. At that time, tobacco was still a luxury in Europe, and generally only the aristocratic masters could afford it. Although the general public also wants to smoke two, the high price makes them prohibitive.
Sun-dried tobacco
Therefore, once tobacco achieves mass production, it can cover all levels of society, which will be an immeasurable windfall profit. As a result, the British government at the time tried to send labor to Virginia to facilitate the cultivation of tobacco.
But as we said earlier, virginia's natural environment really can't keep people. What to do? The British government has a bad move. They first sent criminals and prisoners of war to Virginia, forcing them to work as coolies on tobacco plantations.
But then the scale of the plantations became larger and larger, and the labor force was still in short supply. The British government has also lost its way. Under the leadership of the British government, Catholics in Britain were constantly persecuted, and many of them emigrated to Virginia in North America.
Persecution of Catholics
The abundant labor resources allowed Virginia's tobacco industry to develop rapidly. Between 1699 and 1701, the tobacco tax in England reached £421,000, and this money accounted for as much as 20% of customs duties. At that time, some people in Britain once joked that the wealth brought by tobacco even exceeded the maritime trade war with Spain.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > fourth, the bottom line for the loss of wealth</h1>
Because new colonists were constantly coming to Virginia on the American continent, tobacco plantations had to grow in size to feed the neo-colonists. But good land is always limited, so the contradiction between the colonists and the Indians inevitably occurs.
Indians today
When European colonists first arrived on the American continent, the Indians admired the advanced technology from Europe, believing that it was a special function of the gods, such as when they saw that magnets could absorb iron, they worshipped the people who used magnets as gods and gave him supreme respect.
But the enthusiasm and goodwill of the Indians did not change the purpose of the colonists to plunder wealth. Both Catholics and criminal tramps from Europe took up arms and slaughtered Indians and then seized their land. The Indians also rose up against it, but the level of civilization on both sides was not on the same level, so the Indians were eventually defeated and expelled, and the European colonists gradually completed the occupation of the Americas!
Colonists slaughtered Indians
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Wen Shijun said</h1>
No matter which country or nation, morally condemns gratuitous killings. But the colonists from Europe had their own set of sayings that they were God's chosen people, all who had the right to possess the land God had created. As for the natives of these lands, because they are backward, they are nothing more than beasts in human skin, so that their killing will not be condemned in the slightest by conscience.
The huge economic interests, coupled with the moral concept of not treating indians as human beings, pushed the primitive capital accumulation of Europeans step by step to perfection, and the European countries also gradually developed. If you look back, on the way forward in the civilized countries of Europe, there are bloody footprints.
Contemporary Indians
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > resources</h1>
Lawrence James, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, China Friendship Publishing Company, 2020.
Mary Pratt Pamili: A Brief History of Britain, Jiangxi People's Publishing House, 2017.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Kan Xiang)
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