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Article: Colonial Policy, British
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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COLONIAL POLICY, BRITISH
COLONIAL POLICY, BRITISH.
English colonial policy, which became "British" with the union of England and Scotland in 1707, promoted domestic industry, foreign trade, fisheries, and shipping by planting colonial settlements in the New World and exploiting its resources through such commercial companies as the Hudson's Bay Company and the South Sea Company. The colonial policy began with the sixteenth-century patents to Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1606 patents were granted to the London and Plymouth Companies of Virginia, and a settlement policy of direct Crown control was established. In 1609 this was modified by a charter issued to the ...