rk something of an era in the
history of trade and commerce, not because the capture of Jamaica had
any very conspicuous effect upon Cromwell's own policy or upon the
commercial activities of the higher authorities, but because it opened
a larger world and larger opportunities to the merchants and traders of
London who were at this time seeking openings for trading ventures in
all parts of the world. To better their fortunes many men accompanied
the expedition under Penn and Venables, and the merchants at home were
seized with something of the spirit of the Elizabethans in planning,
not only to increase commerce and swell their own fortunes, but also
to drive the Spaniard from the southwestern waters of the Atlantic
and extend British control and British trade into regions heretofore
wholly in the hands of Spain. Barbadoes, Jamaica, Florida, Virginia,
New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland became a world of great
opportunities, and with plans for the expansion of trade went plans for
naval and military activity. If the merchants of the period had had
their way, a systematic and orderly policy of colonial control in the
interest of British power and profit would have been inaugurated during
the second period of the Interregnum, but circumstances do not appear
to have been propitious, and the disturbed political order during the
years 1658 and 1659 led not only to a cessation of activity as far
as the government was concerned but also to decay of trade, shrinking
of profits, decrease of fortunes, and widespread discouragement.
Furthermore, there is nothing to show that Cromwell himself ever rose
to a statesmanlike conception of colonial control and administration.
He was thoroughly interested in those matters, was personally influenced
by the London merchants, frequently called on the most conspicuous of
them for advice, placed them on committees and councils established for
purposes of trade, and was always open to their suggestions. But while
he was willing to act upon their opinions and recommendations in many
respects, he never seems to have grasped the essentials of a large
and comprehensive plan of colonial control, and it is not possible
to discover in what he actually accomplished any broadminded idea of
uniting the colonies under an efficient management for the purpose of
laying the foundations of an empire. His expedients, interesting and
practical as many of them were, do not seem to be a part of any large or