Existing comment:
Virginia in the Atlantic World
Tobacco proved to be good as gold for Virginians. Wealth from its sale and easy navigation of the colony's rivers encouraged global trade.
Virginians traded with the Dutch for decades but mainly with England and Scotland. Tobacco was exchanged for manufactured goods, servants, and slaves. Fear of foreign invasion––by Spanish, French, and (later) Dutch ships––lingered. British trade regulations––intended to bring money and raw materials to England––were so poorly enforced that by 1750 Americans had established a higher standard of living than that of England. |