Comments by "buddermonger2000" (@buddermonger2000) on "How History Works" channel.

  1. Yes, but they're the exception, not the norm. In fact, you can really only point to the East India companies to that end. Almost everything else were simply companies who set up shop in the new land (which I don't think is really getting rich off of conquest since you could potentially do that anywhere), and not to mention how they were usually quite expensive to maintain which meant that almost any riches gained were not actually affecting the balance sheet for a net positive
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  2. One example? He provides multiple from multiple countries. Really, the actual outcome is that it was only profitable for one country.
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  3. So, not quite. As stated by the video, much of the potential tax revenue was never generated, and most of the way that the benefits came in were strategic except for the British case, of which didn't necessarily have a lot of tax revenue in exchange for it. Not to mention how they were a constant drain on resources to maintain which means that it wasn't just an upfront cost, but in fact a continuing and ongoing cost of administration, security, and related maintenance. Secondly, it's 100% possible to separate the two. While there was a direct benefit in colonialism in feeding the Industrial Revolution, it did this by literally doing so through the food which was able to be brought back to Europe. Foods like potatoes and tomatoes are native to the Americas, not to Europe, but the former fed multiple countries almost by itself and allowed for much of the resulting population explosion which was an enabling condition for the subsequent industrial development. However, as for wealth to power the industrial revolution, that never materialized with the most industrial areas having nothing to do with the ones most engaged in colonialism, and in fact some of the most industrialized countries having near no colonies at all until the late 19th century such as Germany. Not to mention how Italy and Austria industrialized without their colonies. Even France can be mostly included as they lost their American and Indian colonies relatively early on, with their American colonies mostly being used for fur trade and almost entirely unpopulated.
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