1. MUNDY 2010 Social Studies 10

2.  Britain, like many industrialized countries in the 19 th Century, required a constant supply of raw materials for its factories  Wood, furs, wheat and many other resources were in high demand for the growing population in Britain’s cities like London  Many of these materials could not be found within the country, forcing Britain to look to other places

3.  To get a constant supply of each of these resources, Britain would conquer lands around the world  Then it would create a local colonial government to manage trade in the resources  Britain then gave approval to companies, like the Hudson’s Bay Company, to gather and ship the resources to Britain

4.  Companies approved by Britain would have to ensure that the ‘mother country’ would receive a consistent supply of each resource  Britain’s role was to negotiate the amount and price for the resources – factories in Britain were the ones to pay for these resources for their own use  The colonial government’s role was to support businesses that supplied Britain

5.  For Britain’s manufacturers, a constant supply of resources meant that they would not go out of business  For Britain, growth of its industries meant more jobs and more overall wealth  For the colonies, this meant a constant customer for the raw materials that they could supply to Britain

6.  The type of government Britain preferred was oligarchies, where governments were neither responsible nor representative  Because colonial governments focused only on growth of colony’s businesses and exports, it largely ignored the needs of its own people  As well, companies in Britain had to pay whatever prices for resources were negotiated

7.  Thus, in the mid-1800’s, Britain began to look at the option of buying its resources from any place that would sell for the cheapest  This included searching for companies beyond its own colonies  Hence, Britain began dropping its duties (=import taxes) on goods from non-colonies  This new system was known as “FREE TRADE”

8.  Because Britain now wished to look elsewhere for cheaper resources, British North America’s colonies no longer had guaranteed sales for its raw materials such as timber, furs and wheat  As well, Britain realized that it no longer needed to have such tight control of its colonial governments  Thus Britain began to impose responsible government on its colonies so that the local people could have control of their own policies