#10 Understanding Colonialism: The Early Monopoly Companies and Colonisation

After having outlined in the previous blog the origins of the early monopoly companies, it is now worth pausing to understand how these monopoly companies operated. Divest yourself of any conception you might possess of a trading company today. From their origins, these companies operated like ships of war. They were designed to combat all aggression from any direction: aggression from the people they might meet on landing, from other ships that might wish to steal their cargoes, and from other European monopoly companies that wished to steal their trade.