23.自由的遗产(大学英语泛读第5册第三版).docVIP

23. Heritage of Freedom (Ⅰ) Over 400 years ago a succession of English monarchs supported a clever new business structure which then, incidentally, helped Britain successfully colonise America. This extract explains what made this business concept so successful. In addition, you can read how the existence of the American colonies helped English kings solve religious and economic problems . Of all the things that Queen Elizabeth① did for her country, none was more significant in the long run for England than her chartering of the first overseas joint stock company, the East India Company,② in 1600. By the stroke of her pen,③ she put the Crown④ and a group of wealthy mer- 5 chants of England into a partnership that brought unheard-of riches to both and led directly to the establishing of English settlements in America. Because the joint stock company system removed much of the financial risk from colonial ventures, the English in seventeenth century were able to establish footholds on the eastern seaboard of North America. The reason 10 that this system offered an ideal solution to the problem of developing over- seas resources was that it spread the cost among many different individuals. No sensible businessman would have put all his capital into a colonizing ven- ture after Raleighs bankruptcy,⑤but in view of the possibilities of profit in foreign trade, he would be willing to risk a part of his capital. Moreover, 15 the charters granted to companies for the purpose of developing colonies abroad differed in two important ways from those granted to companies en- gaged in business at home in England. First, the charters granted the colo- nial companies vast areas of overseas land, and second, they allowed the companies to govern those who settled abroad. 20 When Elizabeth chartered the East India Company, she was not being altogether generous in granting the rights of governmen