Economic history of US: The Role of Colonial Economy Inheritance in the United States

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Economic History of the U.S
PART I
A: The Role of Colonial Economy Inheritance in the United States
The colonial economy of the U.S is linked to the British and other European settlers in North America from 16th to 18th centuries for economic gains. Before then, the entire North American continent was occupied by Native Americans who were indigenous. Native Americans, known as red Indians, migrated to America approximately 15,000 years ago from Asia. Although the discovery of North America by Europeans is linked to the Vikings in the 11th century, the activities of the natives went unnoticed. The main reason is that the European economy was based on land ownership, and agriculture and commerce had not gained its importance (Heilbroner &Aaron, 46). However, in the 14th century, trade assumed its importance, which provided Europe a need for further exploration. After Christopher Columbus discovered a ''New World' later in the 14th century, the Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, and Dutch explorers sailed towards the west in search of the then famous ''New World.'' For the next 100 years, all these explorers had set foot in North America, settled, and later settled as early colonies.
The colonial economy refers to the systems of the economy that was formed by the British to get the resources belonged to Indian subcontinents. Before the colonial economic inheritance, the economy of the United States was primarily farming and pre-industrial. Households majorly engaged in the production of goods for home consumption and only a few were sold. Colonial economic inheritance in the US leads to increased demand for labor and thus the production of goods. Cash crops such as tobacco which are considered to be New World cash crops made Europeans increasingly rely on Africans. In the United States, there were several economic impacts as a result of being colonized by the British people. The American land was rich in natural resources, but the labor was scarce. As a result, the British colonialists had to seek labor from other parts of the world, such as Africa. The United States’ economy greatly relied on subsistence farming. The British demanded labor for growing the new world cash crops, such as tobacco and sugar in the 1600s. The British brought changes in America as a result of their ideas and goods. The Americans inherited the slaves to propagate and improve their agricultural economy (Kirk). Slavery was profitable in the United States economy and facilitated economic developments. It was profitable because Americans were provided with free labor for growing their cash crops.
Although the English Puritans had already settled in Massachusetts, they were mainly pious and self-disciplined. Their main reason for setting up these new homelands was to escape the religious persecution that was going on in Britain at that time. However, by the 17th century, other settlers were not mainly motivated by piety; their main concern was commerce and new business ventures. Later on, the initial puritan colonists could no longer ignore the economic opportunity, especially after establishing the Plymouth Plantation. The formation of charted companies like the Jamestown col...