American Colonial Economy

The American colonial economy was export-driven, although by far the largest share of output was consumed internally. English merchant-capitalists financed the settlement of American colonies, hoping that they would gain profits from their investments. Notwithstanding the English navigation laws, which attempted to ensure the profits of English capital by restricting American manufacturing and mandating the markets for exports of colonial crops, colonists sought self-sufficiency, not only growing most of their own food but making many …

…like ceramic plates and knives and forks) over the eighteenth century. But many other families were poor, and nearly a quarter of all Americans were enslaved and consumed very little. Moreover, inequality in property ownership among free people had been high since the outset of settlement, and probably grew somewhat more concentrated in older regions over the eighteenth century, with the wealthiest tenth of the population owning between one-third and two-thirds of the total wealth.