The Economic Value of British Colonial Empire in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

• Published in: History compass 2006-01, Vol.4 (1), p.54-76
• Main Authors: Austen, Ralph A., Smith, Woodruff D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1478-0542; 1478-0542
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2005.00300.x

This article reviews recent research on aspects of the long‐standing debate among historians over the question of whether or not, on the whole, colonial expansion before 1800 contributed substantially to British economic development and industrialization. After narrowing the meaning of “colonial” to focus on coercion as its defining characteristic, we conclude that analyses based on the standard quantitative measures of economic development have not produced a clear consensus one way or the other. Research looking at the effects of colonialism on the institutional framework of economic change does, however, appear to support our own view that, from a structural standpoint, pre‐1800 colonialism did indeed contribute significantly to economic change in Britain.