How important were merchants to the first british empire?

Merchants funded the trading companies that evolved into plantation colonies. They were the ones who took the first chances, and without them, the empire could not have existed. Some traders were active in the slave trade, which was crucial to the production of sugar and tobacco in the colonies.

So the trading companies that went on to become the plantation colonies were financed by merchants. It was they who took the early risks and without them the empire might never have happened. Some merchants were involved in the slave trade, which was integral to the growing of sugar and tobacco in the colonies.

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