Colonial Trade trade Items from the Colonies
The colonies of the New World provided a number of resources to their home countries.
England
Resources provided by the colonies:
- Tobacco
- Wheat
- Rice
- Lumber
- Indigo (used for dye)
- Fur
- Fish
- Leather (from deer skin)
- Sugarcane products (sugar, molasses, & rum)
- Whale products (soap, candles, lamp oil, etc)
- Naval supplies (tar, pitch, turpentine, etc.)
Left: Indigo plant (Indigofera tinctoria). The leaves are used to make the indigo dye. Right: Indigo dye
Left: Sugarcane plant. Right: Molasses, which is made from sugarcane.
Left: Whaling in colonial times. Right: Ambergris is whale vomit & is used in perfumes.
Left: A pine tree is stripped of its bark so it releases a sticky sap that will be used for turpentine. Right: Collection of the pine sap.
Above: Uses for pine sap on a ship.
Spain
Spain had a trading economy instead of an agricultural economy.
*most important resource from the colonies.
Resources provided by the colonies:
- Large amounts of gold & silver (mined)*
- Sugarcane products (sugar, molasses, & rum)
- Cacao (used to make chocolate)
- Corn
- Potatoes
Left: Cacao tree. Right: Cacao pod
France
*most important resource from the colonies
Resources provided by the colonies:
- Furs*
- Flour (wheat)
- Lumber
- Dried peas
Left: Beaver pelt. Right: Hat made from beaver pelt.
The Netherlands
*most important resource from the colonies.
Resources provided by the colonies:
- Furs
- Sugar
- Transportation-transporting goods for the Spanish*