Setting the Scene
📖 Setting the Scene
In 1660, England was becoming a trading nation. Ships sailed to India, West Africa, the Caribbean, and the American colonies, bringing back spices, sugar, tobacco, and, increasingly, enslaved people. The Company of Royal Adventurers into Africa, chartered in 1660 and reorganised as the Royal African Company in 1672, held the monopoly on English slave trading. London was growing as a commercial centre. Coffee houses opened (the first had appeared in the 1650s), becoming centres for business deals and news. This was an economy in transition, from medieval farming to early capitalism, from local markets to global trade.
History glossary
- What was the East India Company?
- English trading company (founded 1600) with monopoly on trade with Asia. Under Charles II it expanded significantly, establishing permanent trading posts (factories) in India at Bombay (part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry in 1661). The basis of England's future Indian empire.
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📝 Exam Connection: The Slave Trade
The Royal African Company is significant:
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Quiz · Question 1 of 10
Which company was founded in 1660 and given a monopoly on the English slave trade?
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