Evil Politicians! Film at 11!

[David Casseres]

>The colony at Jamestown VA, circa 1609, was a for-profit project of the
>Virginia Company, an investment-capitalist concern, out to make a buck (or a
>pound, rather) for its shareholders.  Maybe not all of the colonies were
>established strictly for profit, and maybe the motives for founding the
>colonies were not the same as the motives for founding the country, but
>clearly the aroma of "business enterprise" was present here from the very
>beginning.   

The aroma (and there's a well-chosen word!) was indeed everywhere.  But 
for the most part it wafted across the Atlantic from London, and for the 
lesser part it came from the few offices of the few individuals who were 
actually practicing capitalism in the New World.  (The original Puritan 
colonies, as Jeff Leikle points out, were a special case in that they 
brought their capitalist charter with them.)  The vast majority of the 
individuals were small farmers, and the center of gravity of the economy 
was clearly the small farm.

Cheers,
David