s not so extended to those in the eastern hemisphere. He held that "the genius of the British constitution . . . protects and governs North America, and . . . the mercantile company . . . oppresses and domineers . . . the East Indies" (p. 176).
Smith (p. 195-196) contended that the acquisition of new territory, as was occurring in the American colonies, could lead to a rapid increase in wealth. Smith contended that the development of the agricultural sector was a key to the economic growth of the Britain's North American colonies. He also contended, however, that the North American British were relatively poor farmers, and that success stemmed largely from an abundance of fertile land (p. 328). Smith (pp. 482-483) also considered it to be advantageous to the North American colonies that the export trade from those colonies were controlled by entities from within Britain, because this situation permitted the colonists to concentrate on the all important development of the agricultural sector.
Where the economic theories of Adam Smith were based primaril
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