SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC

CHANGE IN THE LATER

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY,
PART III
Overseas expansion and the
imperial state

The English Revolution and the countrys economic

transformation
1. While capitalist agriculture was the fundamental

condition for the growth of towns, cities, trade, and

manufacturing in England, the possibilities contained in
such capitalist transformation were not fully realized until
the English Revolution of the mid-seventeenth century.
2. More specifically, the policies of the English
Commonwealth (c. 1649-1653) transformed the countrys
political economy that is, the relationship between the
state and the economic organization of society in favor
of commercial and manufacturing development at home
as well as overseas commercial and colonial expansion.

The English Revolution and the countrys economic

transformation, continued
3. Before 1640, the English state was not committed to the

development of commerce, manufacturing, and overseas expansion.

4. The Stuart monarchy of James I and Charles I extracted short-term
revenues from commercial and overseas expansion in order to fund
its initiatives and projects.
5. During the English Civil Wars and Revolution, the policies and
practices of the state were no longer exclusively determined by
landed elites. Under the Commonwealth regime, new social groups,
consisting largely of overseas merchants and entrepreneurs, were
involved in planning and implementing state policy. These groups
brought new ideas and schemes, drawn from their experiences in
overseas enterprise and commercial competition, to bear in the affairs
of state.
6. Between 1649 and 1653, the English state became committed to
commercial, manufacturing, and overseas expansion.

The English Revolution and the countrys economic

transformation, continued
7. New policies committed the state to unlimited commercial

and overseas expansion: the Navigation Act of 1651 and the

additional navigation laws; the First Anglo-Dutch War; the
abolition of chartered monopolies in favor of free-trade
zones; the creation of a sizeable standing navy; and the
building of a naval-industrial complex.
8. Rather than extracting short-term revenues from
commercial and overseas economic development as James
I and Charles I had done, the English Commonwealth was
committed to raising long-term revenues on the basis of
ever-expanding commercial and overseas economic activity.
The state sought to expand economic activity in order to
increase its tax revenues, instead of arbitrarily raising taxes
regardless of the condition of the economy.

The title page of the Navigation Act of 1651

The creation and continuation of Englands imperial

state
1. During the Commonwealth period, the English state was

fundamentally committed to overseas expansion. Between

1649 and 1653, the imperial state was born.
2. After the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660, the
English government continued to support many of the
commercial and overseas policies and practices put in
place under the Commonwealth. For example, the
Navigation Act and the other navigation laws were renewed
in the early 1660s, and Charles IIs younger brother
James, Duke of York was made Lord High Admiral and
placed in charge of building a larger standing navy. English
overseas expansion continued throughout the Restoration
period. The imperial state was here to stay.

Englands overseas expansion by 1700:

the colonies in North America

Englands overseas expansion by 1700:

the plantations in the West Indies

Englands overseas expansion by 1700: African

slavery and the rise of the Atlantic trading system

Englands overseas expansion by 1700:

the trading world of Asia, the Indian subcontinent,
and the English East India Company