england in the seventeenth

England in the Seventeenth Century: the Rise of a World Power Gungaram Shana December, Thursday 11th SUMMARY OF THE DISSERTATION Introduction First part: England's territorial expansion 1. The process of colonization 2. The army's role into the process of the territorial expansion Second part: The rise of the British economy 1. The chartered companies 2. The slaves and triangular trades 3. Profits from piracy Conclusion Sources The world is experiencing a New England since 1578, when Elizabeth I took an interest in exploring overseas and discovering the world. England is known to have been one of the most powerful empires of the world, politically, economically and militarily. The British Empire has known two rises in its history, the first one between 1583 and 1783, and the second one between 1783 and 1815. It emerged in the 17th century, during James I, Charles I, Charles II and William of Orange's reigns. What have been the processes set up by the British in the 17th century to rise to the top of the World? To answer this question, we will first study England's territorial expansion, and then we will focus on the rise of the British economy in the 17th century. As every nation discovering the World, the first goal of England was to conquer as much territories as possible. Therefore, during its history, the British Empire had colonized lands all over the world. These colonies were territories that were supposed to remain British, and to be settled by Englishmen. The Crown claimed absolute sovereignty over them, although there were not parts of the Kingdom itself. The direct "target" of Great Britain was The Americas, as it was a new and undiscovered part of the World. Their first colonies were situated in North America; indeed, the first one was Virginia: in 1606 James I was supporting the ambition of colonizing the coast of America. In 1607, three ships sailed into Chesapeake Bay (then renamed "The James River"), and they settled on an island that they would call "Jamestown", and later on, Virginia, in memory of England's late virgin queen, Elizabeth I. But English settlers have known difficulties, because of a year of disease, hunger, and attacks by local Indians. The government of England sent more and more ships and settlers, and by 1609 and 1610, Virginia had become a British territory. Then came the turn of Canada: after being renamed "The Province of Quebec", the former French Canada was divided into two provinces, the Canadas, the Lower Canada (now Quebec) and the Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1608, a hundred of puritans left England because of their religious discontent, and flee to North America, in a boat called "The Mayflower". They tried ...