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THE
BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY
The British East India Company was a British commercial and political
organization established in India in the late 1600's, which was known as
the Governor and Company of Merchants of London. A forerunner of this
group was the London Mercers Company, and earlier than that, the London
Staplers. The organization traced their lineage back to the ancient
commercial groups involved in trading between the Mediterranean and
India. They were closely related to the Levant Company, and the Anglo-Muscovy
Company, and spawned the London Company, which was chartered in 1606 by
King James I, to establish the Virginia Plantation on a communistic
basis, and the Plymouth Colony in 1621.
It was mainly organized for trading, but soon became an agent for
British imperialism. Bending to government pressure, they reorganized in
1702. Every year, 24 Directors were elected by the Court of Proprietors
(or shareholders, a majority of which were English Masons). They traded
in cotton, tea, silk, and salt peter; and were accused of dealing with
opium and participating in the slave trade. They virtually monopolized
all trade from South India, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia and East
Asia.
Indian policy was influenced by the company from 1757 to 1773, when
their power was broken by the 1773 Regulatory Act, and Pitt's India Act
of 1784, finally ending their monopoly in 1813. When they ceased to
exist in 1873, many of its shareholders were major financiers. The
principals of this group perpetuated their elitist goals by establishing
the Fabian Society.
In 1606, King James also chartered the Virginia Company, a joint stock
corporation made up of a group of London entrepreneurs, charged with
establishing Jamestown, in the Chesapeake region of North America known
as Virginia. It had the authority to appoint the Council of Virginia,
the Governor, and other officials; and also had the responsibility to
provide settlers, supplies, and ships for the venture. Although
initially favorable, as the mortality rate rose, and the prospect for
profit faded, the support for it began to decline. They resorted to
lotteries, searching for gold, and silkworm production to increase their
chances of making a profit. Although Great Britain controlled the colony
through this company, because of the Indian Massacre of 1622, the
Charter was revoked in 1624, and Virginia became a Crown colony.
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