English and French mercantilist thought and the matter of colonies during the 17^th century

Abstract

Monetary enrichment was among the hottest topics in mercantilist writings of France and England in the 17^th century. How might wealth best be increased in a world that, until the close of this period, was to remain largely without the concept of the market? Colonies came to be seen as a means of increasing the home nation's wealth given the right political and economic conditions. The economists of the day enquired into whether colonies could enrich the nation, and if so, how they might best contribute to this. Three views on this formed over the course of the period. The first view was that the economic development of the colonies should be promoted as a basis for trade on a more equitable, albeit exclusive, basis with the home nation. The ‘predatory’ view saw the colonies as a means of enrichment through unfair trade with no major local investment. The third view held that colonies were the road to the impoverishment of the home country rather than its enrichment. These three views underpinned discussion of the colonial question throughout the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Keywords:

• colonisation
• mercantilism
• monetary enrichment

Notes

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⁹Fourquet, François, Richesse et puissance, une généalogie de la valeur. Paris: La découverte 1989.

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⁴⁷Pagden, C., in The Oxford history of the British Empire. Ed. Nicholas Canny, vol. 1, The origins of empire, Oxford: University Press 1998, 53.

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⁵¹Postan, Michael & Hill Chritopher, The pelican economic history of Britain. London: Penguin Books 1969–1972.

⁵²The major economic depression of 1620, which was reflected by a fall in cloth sales abroad and real shortages, was due in part only to continental currencies being devalued against the English currency. Devaluation meant English textiles were more expensive than those from northern and central Europe. The ensuing fall in exports was made worse by the need to import cereals after poor harvests. However, the economic depression followed a situation that had been worsening for a long time, with devaluation being only the last straw. The Dutch had become tremendous competitors in the meantime (Wallerstein, Immanuel, The modern world system, I, 249–250.

⁵³Fitzmaurice, Humanism and America, 62.

⁵⁴Arneil, John Locke and America, 31; Pagden, in Canny, 1996, p. 35.

⁵⁵Arneil, John Locke and America, 68.

⁵⁶Quoted in Arneil, John Locke and America, 69.

⁵⁷Raleigh claimed Virginia for the Crown in 1584.

⁵⁸Fitzmaurice, Andrew, Humanism and America, 98.

⁵⁹Canny, The Oxford history of the British Empire, 22.

⁶⁰Bodin, Les six livres de la République, 418.

⁶¹Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 239.

⁶²Mun, A discourse of trade from England into the East, 50.

⁶³Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 177.

⁶⁴The Dutch especially ”experiment and show better than all others that the shortest route to fortify, enrich and enlarge a state is through the sea” (Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 181).

⁶⁵Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 177.

⁶⁶Bodin, Les six livres de la République, V, 64.

⁶⁷Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 24.

⁶⁸Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 192–193.

⁶⁹Davenant, Charles, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade. London 1698, in The Political and Commercial Works, Collected and Revised by Sir Charles Whitworth. London: R. Horsfield 1771, reprint, Gregg Press 1967, I, 138.

⁷⁰Bodin, Les six livres de la République, VI, 49.

⁷¹Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 187.

⁷²Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 188.

⁷³Malynes, Gerard de, The Maintenance of Free Trade. London 1622, reprint New York: Augustus Mc Kelley 1971, 164.

⁷⁴Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 197.

⁷⁵Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 200.

⁷⁶Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 200.

⁷⁷Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 3.

⁷⁸Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 3.

⁷⁹Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 5.

⁸⁰Quoted by Pagden, The Oxford history of the British Empire, 41.

⁸¹Petyt William, Britannia Languens. London 1680, Reprint in Ed. J.-R. McCulloch, 275–505, 370.

⁸²Knorr, British colonial theories, 1570–1850, 73.

⁸³Coke, A Discourse of Trade, 43.

⁸⁴Coke, A Discourse of Trade, 33.

⁸⁵Coke, A Discourse of Trade, 33.

⁸⁶Appleby, Economic thought and ideology in the seventeenth century England, 135.

⁸⁷Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 3.

⁸⁸Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 381.

⁸⁹Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 233.

⁹⁰Mercantilist policy supported the importing of raw materials but discouraged imports of manufactured goods. The first corn laws were intended to authorise the export of wheat in periods of abundance only and provided that exports did not create artificial price rises. In England and France, for example, wool could not be exported because it supplied a highly lucrative industry until the early 17^th century. Similarly, goods required for warfare and shipbuilding (pitch, timber, rope, etc.) could not be exported while importing them was very much encouraged. The principle of protection was applied first to goods that were produced within the country and then extended to those that the nation was seeking to produce. On this question, see Hecksher, Mercantilism, I, 112–15.

⁹¹Hecksher, Mercantilism, 112–115; Douglas, Irwin, Against the tide: An intellectual history of free trade. Princeton: University Press 1996, 26–63.

⁹²Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 186.

⁹³Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 197.

⁹⁴Cole, C. W., French Mercantilism doctrines before Colbert. New York: Richard, R. Smith, 1931; Dockès, Pierre, L'espace dans la pensée économique. Paris: Flammarion 1969, 121.

⁹⁵Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 199.

⁹⁶Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 200.

⁹⁷Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 197.

⁹⁸Montchrétien, Traité de l'Œconomie Politique, 196.

⁹⁹Colbert, Lettres, Instructions et Mémoires, III, 93.

¹⁰⁰Vauban, Moyen de rétablir nos colonies d'Amérique et de les accroître en peu de temps.

¹⁰¹One of the chief aims of the commercial monopoly was to secure the monopoly of trade with the colonies for the mother country. Exclusive trade was organised both in France and England. In England, for instance, legislation was enacted in the form of the Staple Acts of 1651, 1662 and 1663. The Staple Act of 1663 reserved colonial trade for the m other country, compelling the colonies to buy and to sell with England alone.

¹⁰²Vauban, Moyen de rétablir nos colonies d'Amérique et de les accroître en peu de temps, 418.

¹⁰³Vauban, Moyen de rétablir nos colonies d'Amérique et de les accroître en peu de temps, 177.

¹⁰⁴Vauban, Moyen de rétablir nos colonies d'Amérique et de les accroître en peu de temps, 420.

¹⁰⁵Vauban, Moyen de rétablir nos colonies d'Amérique et de les accroître en peu de temps, 436.

¹⁰⁶Robinson, 1652, quoted by Knorr, British colonial theories, 1570–1850, 54.

¹⁰⁷Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 205.

¹⁰⁸Pollexfen, England and East India inconsistent in their manufactures, 86.

¹⁰⁹Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 241.

¹¹⁰Perrotta, Cosimo, Is the mercantilist theory of the favourable balance of trade really erroneous?, History of Political Economy, vol. 23, 1991: 2, 301–335.

¹¹¹Barbon, A Discourse of Trade, 34.

¹¹²North, Discourses upon Trades, 528.

¹¹³Letwin, The origin of scientific economics, the English economic thought 1660–1776; Appleby, Economic thought and ideology in the seventeenth century England.

¹¹⁴Appleby, Economic thought and ideology in the seventeenth century England, 171.

¹¹⁵Barbon, A Discourse of Trade, 35–36.

¹¹⁶Cary, An essay on the state of England.

¹¹⁷Thomas, Dalby, An historical account of the West-India colonies. 1690, quoted by Appleby, Economic thought and ideology in the seventeenth century England, 171.

¹¹⁸Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 12.

¹¹⁹Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 22.

¹²⁰Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 230.

¹²¹Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 125.

¹²²Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 8–10.

¹²³Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, II, 9.

¹²⁴Heckscher, Mercantilism, II, 41.

¹²⁵Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 124–125.

¹²⁶Braudel, Fernand, Civilisation matérielle, économie et capitalisme. Paris: Armand Colin. 1979, III, 426–429.

¹²⁷See on this point: Morineau, Michel, Les grandes compagnies des Indes Orientales. Paris: P. U. F. 1994.

¹²⁸Quoted by Marx Roland, Histoire de la Grande-Bretagne. Paris: Armand Colin 1980, 91.

¹²⁹As Cole remarked of Colbert's colonial policy, over nearly 20 years, more certain knowledge of the road to the Indies, the newly acquired ability of merchants to do business in this region, and knowledge of manners and habits ‘were all assets which could not figure on the balance sheet, but which formed a significant contribution from the company of Colbert to its successors’, cf. Cole, C. W. Colbert and a century of French mercantilism. New York 1939, 523; see also Fourquet, Richesse et puissance, 175.

¹³⁰Ekelund & Tollison, Mercantilism as a rent-seeking society, 132.

¹³¹Meyer, Histoire de la France coloniale.

¹³²Richelieu, Testament Politique, 114.

¹³³Richelieu, Testament Politique, 114.

¹³⁴Colbert, Lettres, Instructions et Mémoires, III, 467.

¹³⁵Colbert, Lettres, Instructions et Mémoires, III, 570.

¹³⁶Morineau, Les grandes compagnies des Indes Orientales.

¹³⁷Colbert, quoted by Deyon: Deyon Michel, Le mercantilisme. .Paris: Flammarion 1969, 100.

¹³⁸See footnote 50.

¹³⁹Pepper remained the most significant import from Asia both in volume and in value from 1600–1640. Around 1623 a million and a half pounds of pepper were imported annually with a peak at three million in 1626; see Chaudhuri K. N., The English East India Company. The study of early joint-stock Company, 1600–1640. London 1965, 146.

¹⁴⁰Calico appeared as a regular import in the years after 1610: 5000 pieces were imported in 1613, 26,000 pieces in 1619, 123,000 pieces in 1621, and 221,500 in 1625, see Chaudhuri, The English East India Company, 193.

¹⁴¹It is true that the East India Company's main export over this period was precious metal: in 1624, in 23 years, the company had exported £753,336 in bullion and £351,236 in manufactured goods (wool, leather, etc.). This was because of lack of demand for European products in Asia and it was an established fact despite the considerable efforts the company made. More specifically, it was the high price of metal in Asia that made it possible to buy cheaply but made English products much more expensive for potential consumers: Chaudhuri, The English East India Company, 120–122.

¹⁴²Misselden, Edward, The Circle of Commerce or the Ballance of Trade. London 1623, reprint New York: Augustus Mc. Kelley 1971.

¹⁴³Misselden, The Circle of Commerce or the Ballance of Trade, 34–36.

¹⁴⁴The pamphlet, published in 1664, i.e. 23 years after his death, was written before 1628.

¹⁴⁵Mun, England's treasure by forraign trade, 34.

¹⁴⁶Mun thought of this as the circuit of capital (see Steiner, in Nouvelle histoire de la pensée économique, Ed. Béraud and Faccarello. Paris: La Découverte 1992, I, 116–121.

¹⁴⁷Mun, England's treasure by forraign trade, 16.

¹⁴⁸Mun offered pepper as another significant example: ”suppose pepper to be worth here two shillings the pound constantly, if then it be brought from the Dutch at Amsterdam, the Merchant may give there twenty pence the pound, and gain well by the bargain; but if he fetch this pepper from the East Indies, he must not give above three pence the pound at the most, which is a mighty advantage, not only in that part which serveth for our own use, but also for that quantity which we transport yearly unto divers other nations to be sold at a higher price.” Mun, A discourse of trade from England into the East, 10–12.

¹⁴⁹Mun, A discourse of trade from England into the East, 26.

¹⁵⁰Thomas, Mercantilism and East India trade, 12.

¹⁵¹Mun, England's treasure by forraign trade, 10–11.

¹⁵²Mun, England's treasure by forraign trade, 17.

¹⁵³Despite the polemics of the earlier period, Cromwell renewed the East India Company's charter in 1657 (see Morineau, Les grandes compagnies des Indes Orientales). The privilege of trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope was maintained without restriction and the Company could continue to act like a state in itself towards other states outside Europe. While from 1694 the Company's privilege was called into question and competition came from a new firm, from 1708 - after a merger of the two - there was again just a single company still known as the East India Company and enjoying the same privileges.

¹⁵⁴Chaudhuri, K. N., The trading world of Asia and the English East India Company, 1660–1760. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1978, 10.

¹⁵⁵Chaudhuri, The trading world, 97.

¹⁵⁶Morineau, Les grandes compagnies des Indes Orientales, 48.

¹⁵⁷Chaudhuri, The trading world, 287.

¹⁵⁸Morineau, Les grandes compagnies des Indes Orientales, 48.

¹⁵⁹Maddison, Angus, L’économie mondiale, Une perspective millénaire. Paris: O.C.D.E. 2001, 91.

¹⁶⁰Brasseul, Histoire des faits économiques, 166.

¹⁶¹Chaudhuri, The trading world, 295.

¹⁶²Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 171–172.

¹⁶³Child, A New Discourse of Trade, 172–173.

¹⁶⁴Davenant, Charles, An essay on the east India trade, London, 1696, in The Political and Commercial Works, Collected and Revised by Sir Charles Whitworth. London: R. Horsfield 1771, reprint, Gregg Press 1967, I, 85–123, 89.

¹⁶⁵These arguments are consistent with findings by historians; manufactured goods coming from Asia and re-exported on the European markets accounted for 22.5 per cent of British exports for 1699–1701, see Chaudhuri, The trading world, 13.

¹⁶⁶Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 97.

¹⁶⁷Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 116.

¹⁶⁸Between 1660 and 1700 some 702,852 kg of silver and 20,098 kg of gold were exported (Chaudhuri, The trading world, 177). Europe obtained bullion from the mines of the Americas and it was that metal that was re-exported. It was about 15 per cent in 1680; see Morineau, Les grandes compagnies des Indes Orientales, 48. This trade with the East Indies could not cause any significant loss. In addition, it was accepted that the Eastern market could not absorb very large quantities of European goods given their production costs, so the noble metals had unanimous acceptance as means of payment in international trade.

¹⁶⁹Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, I, 129.

¹⁷⁰Davenant, Discourses on the public revenue and on the trade, I, 147.

¹⁷¹Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 91.

¹⁷²Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 88.

¹⁷³Quoted by Thomas, Mercantilism and East India trade, 79.

¹⁷⁴Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 90.

¹⁷⁵ Barber, British economic thought and India, 1600–1858 , 47.

¹⁷⁶Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 102.

¹⁷⁷Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I, 90.

¹⁷⁸Davenant, An essay on the east India trade, I,121.

¹⁷⁹Child, Josiah, A treatise concerning the East-India trade, 1697, in Ed. Lars Magnusson, II, 1995, 38.

¹⁸⁰Thomas, Mercantilism and East India trade.

¹⁸¹Hont, Istvan, Free trade and the economic limits to national politics, The economic limits to modern politics, Ed. J. Dunn. Cambridge: University Press 1990, 96.

¹⁸²Pollexfen, England and East India inconsistent in their manufactures, 17–18.

¹⁸³Pollexfen, England and East India inconsistent in their manufactures, 20.

¹⁸⁴Hont, Free trade and the economic limits to national politics, 100.

¹⁸⁵Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 556.

¹⁸⁶Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 573.

¹⁸⁷Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 578.

¹⁸⁸Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 588.

¹⁸⁹Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 573.

¹⁹⁰Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 582.

¹⁹¹Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 561.

¹⁹²Martyn, Considerations on the East-India Trade, 566.

¹⁹³Barber, British economic thought and India, 60.

¹⁹⁴Barber, British economic thought and India, 60

¹⁹⁵Knorr, British colonial theories, 1570–1850, 59–62

¹⁹⁶Petty, Political Arithmetick, 256.

¹⁹⁷Coke, A Discourse of Trade in Two Parts, 4.

¹⁹⁸Petty, Political Arithmetick, 258.

¹⁹⁹Appleby, Economic thought and ideology in the seventeenth century England, 120.

²⁰⁰Coke, A Discourse of Trade in Two Parts, 33.

²⁰¹Petty, Political Arithmetick, 293.

²⁰²Petty, Political Arithmetick, 300. 

²⁰³Roncaglia, Alessandro, Petty - The origins of Political Economy. New York: M. E. Sharpe, INC 1985, 39–40.

²⁰⁴Petty, Political Arithmetick, 298. 

²⁰⁵Clustering activities and people would eliminate the costs of transporting goods from the place of production to the place of consumption. Petty's ideal, Dockès writes, was a short economic circuit where all activities were concentrated in a single city. This was one reason, Petty imagined, why London numbered 4,690,000 inhabitants whereas the remainder of England had a population of just 2,710,000.

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Notes on contributors

Alain Clement

I acknowledge useful comments by two anonymous referees but any errors are mine alone