This is a summary of the book Why Nations Fail by Acemoglu and Robinson. It summarizes the relevant chapters covered in the lectures of 2016 and researched descriptions that can help explain some of the concepts mentioned.
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I think that some chapters around the theory are summarized, while other chapters are highlighted too extensively while they serve as an example of theory.
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Political Science 242
Why Nations Fail - Summary
Chapter 1: So close yet so different
The Spanish colonization strategy:
The Spanish, when they colonized South America, would:
• Capture the leader of the indigenous group and keep him prisoner for about 6 months. This
would allow them to claim the accumulated wealth of the leader and coerce the
indigenous people to give tribute and food. They would then subdue the opposition
and make themselves the new elite of the indigenous society. They would then take
control of the exiting methods of taxation and forced labor. They then made sure
that the opposition, or the locals that resist, pay taxes and obey your rule. They
would exploit the land and the labour of the people.
• You also, then, allow the locals that agree with you to work for you and benefit
from this, thus creating an indigenous elite.
Hernán Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519 and landed in the the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. He was
welcomed by the Aztec emperor whose name was Moctezuma who decided to welcome the
Spaniards peacefully. Cortés then decided to start dividing up the most valuable resources of New
Spain, as well as the population, through the institution of the encomienda. The encomienda was a
grant by the Spanish Crown of an indigenous person to a colonist, or the encomendero in America.
This meant that the right to demand tribute and forced labour from the inhabitants of an area was
conferred. The encomendero was then charged with converting them to Christianity.
What went wrong with Britain: Must know: why Spanish approach did
In the 1490s England was a minor European power recovering from not work in North America, led to
inclusive institution.
the devastating effects of a civil war, the War of Roses. In 1588
England beat the Spanish Armada and began their colonization. Story of Virginia Company futile
attempt to copy Spanish approach.
They chose North America because it was the only area available.
In 1606, under the command of Captain Christopher Newport, set off for Virginia under the
auspices of the Virginia Company. The English wanted to use the same colonization strategy as
Cortés: they wanted to capture the local chief and coerce the population into producing fold and
wealth for them. When they first arrived in Jamestown, they were unaware that they landed in
territory already claimed by the Powhatan Confederacy. The Powhatan Confederacy was a coalition
of about 30 polities owing allegiance to a king called Wahunsunacock. The British thought that
even if the locals refused to provide food and labor, the least they could do was trade with the
British. The English thought that they could control this local group like the Spanish and they were
so sure that they could that they didn't plant crops or plan for failure. The notion of growing their
, own food did not cross their minds. Wahunsunacock became aware of the colonialists' presence and
initially sent messages to them willing to have friendly
relations.
As the winter of 1607 closed in, the settlers in Jamestown
were low on food. John Smith initiated a series of trading
missions that secured vital food supplies. He was eventually
captured and met Wahunsunacock. When he arrived back to
the British, he told them that their method of colonization
was not going to work because the people of Virginia did
not have any gold.
Newport sailed to England and he returned with orders
from the Virginia Company to take firmer control over the locals. The plan was to crown
Wahunsunacock but this ended up to result in chaos. Wahunsunacock decided to impose a trade
embargo on the British and starve them out.
Newport them set sail for England again in 1608 with a letter from Smith pleading the Virginia
Company to change the way they thought about the colony. There was no gold and the indigenous
people refuse forced labor. Smith wanted the company to send back the right kind
of people from England to work in Jamestown. In the meantime, Smith bullied
the local indigenous people to trade with him and imposed a rule that "he that will
big worke shall not eat".
The company replied to Smith's orders and changed tactics. They replaced the
ruling council with a single governor named Sir Thomas Gates instead is Smith.
Smith then left Jamestown disgruntled. This change was not enough and without
James and a big enough change in tactic, the colonists in Jamestown perished and
even had to resort to cannibalism.
John Smith then convinces the people from England to stop the strategy they used
in the past. He said that England needed to send people from England that they
could control. The Virginia Company then decided to. They created laws that
forced their people to work on specific terms and not run away with the locals. Gates then decided
that he would enforce a work regime of draconian severity for English settlers. The workers would
live under rules, such as:
• No one can run away from the colony to the Indians.
• No member can sell any commodity for his own private uses.
• Anyone who robs will be punished with death.
People decided to go alone on the frontier beyond the control of the Virginia Company. This
showed the Company that it could not coerce the English settlers into hard work at subsistence
rations.
Company switches strategy
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