The East India Company s Practice Of Mercantilism Essay

As a simple definition, The East India Company originally began as a private company with which Queen Elizabeth I granted a trade monopoly with the East Indies. This company soon grew to be a company like no other and became almost sovereign in its powers. Due to the greatness of this Company, it had many opposers- the most well known, not to mention the most outspoken, of these being Adam Smith. He opposed the East India Company’s practice of mercantilism as he believed that it took away many of the liberties of man and only benefited the select group of people who were in the upper classes of society. Adam Smith believed strongly in the idea of â€Å"Laissez Faire† economics- in other words he believed that the government should simply leave free enterprise to shift for itself. To Smith, the East India Company represented everything that he was against. The government granted this Company a monopoly and other economic privileges that caused a great interference to th e natural course of the free market system. In addition, the Company showed continuously that its interests were not for the good of the people, but for the wealth of the Company. Unsurprisingly, Smith was was not alone in his dislike of the Company, as a matter of fact, the society in which he lived shared much of his animosity for the East India Company. Many in this society shared the belief that the Company’s monopoly and corrupt economic privileges were harming the economy and depriving workers of theirShow MoreRelatedSoutheast Asia And The Middle East And North Africa1426 Words   |  6 PagesBritain and France. Most former colonies are predominantly Christian. In contrast, more than 40% of the population in Southeast Asia practices Islam, making it the most widely practiced religion in the region (Pew Research Center s Religion Public Life Project, 2012). 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