Birtli of British Commerce. 1 



rocky and rugged, the temperature generally cold, the land un- 

 fertile and barren. For these reasons North America was left to 

 the French and English. The French claimed Canada and the 

 whole of the territory of the United States save a narrow strip of 

 land on the Atlantic coast. The French jjopulation Avas small 

 and was jnade up principally of fur traders and half-breeds ; 

 Great Britain held New England, Virginia and the Carolinas. 



After the first fever of religious colonization had passed, about 

 the commencement of the eighteenth century, there was scarcely 

 any emigration from England to America and but little trade 

 between the two countries. The population of^North America 

 was small, its commerce less, with little profit to the European 

 merchants. The country possessed no peculiar advantages for 

 the production of articles of value in foreign markets ; there was 

 nothing, therefore, to invite immigration or commerce. 



The chief inducement to the English to navigate the Atlantic 

 was the hope of capturing the treasure-laden Spanish galleons 

 and the rich Spanish cities. 



Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and other navigators, 

 aided by Queen Elizabeth, with bands of buccaneers, refugees 

 from all countries though mostly Englishmen, explored the re- 

 cesses of the Caribbean sea, crossed the isthmus of Panama, and 

 launched their little vessels on the Pacific. In fifteen years they 

 captured five hundred and forty-five treasure ships, sacked many 

 towns, trained the English seamen, and laid the foundation for 

 the navy of Great Britain. 



The growth of English commerce was slower than that of 

 Spain, Portugal or Holland, and it was not until the middle of 

 the eighteenth century, or two hundred and fifty years after the 

 discovery of America, that she entered upon that career which 

 gave her the control of the ocean. Her coinmerce was built up 

 by protective laws, founded on the Navigation Act of 1651, which 

 prohibited foreign vessels from carrying to or from England the 

 commerce of any country but its own. These laws were uni- 

 versally regarded as among the chief causes and most important 

 bulwarks of the prosperity of Great Britain, and they were con- 

 tinued until English ships controlled the carrying trade of the 

 world, and were not finally repealed until 1854. 



The mechanical devices of Watt, Arkwright, and other great 

 inventors gave to England that supremacy in manufactures 

 which she has ever since retained. The French revolution a 



