The Atlantic Economy
What was exchanged, and between whom
- An Atlantic economy developed in which goods, as well as enslaved Africans and American Indians, were exchanged between Europe, Africa, and the Americas through extensive trade networks.
- The CED names people among the things exchanged, and it names American Indians as well as enslaved Africans.
- European colonial economies focused on acquiring, producing, and exporting commodities that were valued in Europe and gaining new sources of labour.
Select all that the CED says were exchanged in the Atlantic economy.
The CED names people among the things exchanged.
Trade changed native communities twice
- Continuing trade with Europeans increased the flow of goods in and out of American Indian communities, stimulating cultural and economic changes and spreading epidemic diseases that caused radical demographic shifts.
- One cause, two very different effects: cultural and economic change, and radical demographic shifts.
- Continuing matters — 1.4's epidemics were not a single event but an ongoing consequence of contact.
Select both effects of continuing trade on American Indian communities.
One cause, two very different effects.
Britain tried to organise the system
- The British government increasingly attempted to incorporate its North American colonies into a coherent, hierarchical, and imperial structure in order to pursue mercantilist economic aims, but conflicts with colonists and American Indians led to erratic enforcement of imperial policies.
- Three adjectives for the intended structure — coherent, hierarchical, and imperial — and one word for the result: erratic.
- So the policy failed in application, not in design, and that gap is where 2.7's mistrust grows.
The economy, its effect on native communities, or imperial policy?
Sort each element of transatlantic trade.
Select all three adjectives for the structure Britain attempted.
And one word for the result: erratic.
The policy failed in application, not in design. Britain sought a coherent, hierarchical, and imperial structure, but conflicts produced erratic enforcement — and inconsistent rules teach colonists that they can be ignored while teaching London that they must be tightened.
Conflicts led to ____ enforcement of imperial policies.
The policy failed in application, not in design.
Why erratic enforcement mattered
- A rule enforced inconsistently teaches colonists that it can be ignored, and teaches London that it must be tightened.
- So both sides drew opposite lessons from the same decades, which is exactly the shape of 2.1's second claim.
- 2.3's initially lax attention is the same fact from the colonies' side.
Inconsistent enforcement taught the two sides...
Exactly the shape of 2.1's second claim.
Causes and effects over time
- The objective is causes and effects of transatlantic trade over time, and over time licenses a sequence.
- Causes: European demand for valued commodities and for new sources of labour.
- Effects: an Atlantic economy in goods and people, transformed and depopulated native communities, and an imperial structure applied erratically.
A duty that is collected in one port and waived in the next is not really a duty; it is a lottery. Merchants learn to plan around it, and the officials who wrote it conclude that what is needed is stricter collection.
An Atlantic economy developed in which goods, as well as enslaved Africans and American Indians, were exchanged between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Continuing trade with Europeans increased the flow of goods in and out of American Indian communities, stimulating cultural and economic changes and spreading epidemic diseases that caused radical demographic shifts. Britain sought a coherent, hierarchical, and imperial structure for mercantilist economic aims, but conflicts led to erratic enforcement of imperial policies.