Chartered company
Encyclopedia
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
and colonization.
History
Companies enabled merchants to band together to undertake ventures requiring more capital than was available to any one merchant or family. Typically, these companies were formed from the sixteenth century onwards by groups of EuropeanEuropean ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
investors to underwrite and profit from the exploration of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, usually under the patronage of one state, which issued the company's charter. But chartered companies go back into the medieval period. One claimed to be the oldest is the Stora Enso
Stora Enso
Stora Enso Oyj is a Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso-Gutzeit Oy in 1998. It is headquartered in Helsinki, and it has approximately 29,000 employees...
with a charter of 1347 for a copper mine. Chartered companies enabled states to use private resources for exploration and trade beyond the means of the limited resources of the treasury, which is a liberal form of indirect rule; some companies did themselves employ a form of indirect rule
Indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of government that was developed in certain British colonial dependencies...
of territories through traditional leaders, such as princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
s with whom they (not the European state) made treaties.
Chartered companies were usually formed, incorporated and legitimised under a royal
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
or, in republics, an equivalent government charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
. This document set out the terms under which the company could trade; defined its boundaries of influence, and described its rights and responsibilities.
For example, the charter of the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
, given by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, allowed the company to:
- Trade with African rulers such as King LobengulaLobengulaLobengula Khumalo was the second and last king of the Ndebele people, usually pronounced Matabele in English. Both names, in the Sindebele language, mean "The men of the long shields", a reference to the Matabele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.- Background :The Matabele were related to...
- Form banks
- Own, manage and grant or distribute land
- Raise its own police force (the British South Africa PoliceBritish South Africa PoliceThe British South Africa Police was the police force of the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes which became the national police force of Southern Rhodesia and its successor after 1965, Rhodesia...
).
In return, the British South Africa Company agreed to develop the territory it controlled; to respect existing African laws; to allow free trade within its territory and to respect all religions.
Chartered companies in many cases benefited from the trade monopolies (such as the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Royal African Company
Royal African Company
The Royal African Company was a slaving company set up by the Stuart family and London merchants once the former retook the English throne in the English Restoration of 1660...
, which held a monopoly on Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n slaving
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
from 1672 to 1698).
In order to carry out their many tasks, which in many cases included functions - such as security and defence - usually reserved for a sovereign state, some companies achieved relative autonomy. A few chartered companies such as the British Honourable East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
(HEIC) and Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(VOC) had military and naval forces of their own that dwarfed even the average European state's armed forces, and adequate funds to buy the best men and equipment, in effect making them a state within a state.
More chartered companies were formed during the late nineteenth century's "Scramble for Africa
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
" with the purpose of seizing, colonising and administering the last 'virgin' African territories, but these proved generally less profitable than earlier trading companies. In time, most of their colonies were either lost (often to other European powers) or transformed into crown colonies. The last chartered company to administer territory directly in Africa was the Companhia de Moçambique in Portuguese East Africa
Portuguese East Africa
Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time...
(now Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
), which handed over rule of the colonies of Manica
Manica
Manica may refer to:* Manica Province, a province of Mozambique** Manica, Mozambique, a town* Manica, a part of the male Lepidoptera genitalia near the aedeagus* Manica , armguards used by the Roman legionaries and gladiators...
and Sofala
Sofala
Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique.-History:...
to the Portuguese republic's colonial government in 1942.
Notable chartered companies and their abbreviations/ years of formation
British crown charters
- 1711 South Sea Company
- 1792 Sierra Leone CompanySierra Leone CompanyThe Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa in 1792 through the resettlement of black American ex-slaves who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War...
- 1752 African Company of MerchantsAfrican Company of MerchantsThe African Company of Merchants was a Chartered Company in the Gold Coast area of modern Ghana, in the coastal area where the Fante people lived...
(abolished 1821) - 1824 Van Diemen's Land CompanyVan Diemen's Land CompanyThe Van Diemen's Land Company was created in 1824, received a Royal Charter in 1825, and was granted 250,000 acres in northwest Tasmania in 1826...
- 1835 South Australian Company
- 1839 New Zealand CompanyNew Zealand CompanyThe New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
- 1847 Eastern Archipelago CompanyEastern Archipelago CompanyThe Eastern Archipelago Company was an incorporated company with a royal charter active in the island of Labuan from its creation in 1847 to its dissolution in 1858....
- 1881 British North Borneo CompanyBritish North Borneo CompanyThe North Borneo Chartered Company or British North Borneo Company was a chartered company assigned to administer North Borneo in August 1881. North Borneo became a protectorate of the British Empire with internal affairs administered by the company until 1946 when it became the colony of British...
- 1886 Royal Niger CompanyRoyal Niger CompanyThe Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It formed the basis of the modern state of Nigeria....
- 1889 British South Africa CompanyBritish South Africa CompanyThe British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
English crown charters
- 1407 Company of Merchant Adventurers of LondonCompany of Merchant Adventurers of LondonThe Company of Merchant Adventurers of London brought together London's leading overseas merchants in a regulated company, in the nature of a guild. Its members' main business was the export of cloth, especially white broadcloth...
- 1553 Company of Merchant Adventurers to New LandsCompany of Merchant Adventurers to New LandsThe Company of Merchant Adventurers was founded in London, possibly in 1551 by Richard Chancellor, Sebastian Cabot and Sir Hugh Willoughby...
- 1555 Muscovy CompanyMuscovy CompanyThe Muscovy Company , was a trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint stock company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England, and became closely associated with such famous names as Henry Hudson and William Baffin...
- 1577 Spanish Company
- 1579 Eastland CompanyEastland CompanyThe Eastland Company, or North Sea Company, was an English crown-chartered company, founded in 1579 to foster trade with Scandinavia and Baltic Sea states. Like the better-known Russia Company, this was an attempt by the English to challenge the Hanseatic League's dominance in the commerce of...
- 1581 Turkey Company
- 1588 Morocco Company
- 1600 East India Company (HEIC)British East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
- 1604 New River Company
- 1605 Levant CompanyLevant CompanyThe Levant Company, or Turkey Company, was an English chartered company formed in 1581, to regulate English trade with Turkey and the Levant...
- 1606 Virginia CompanyVirginia CompanyThe Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
- 1609 French Company
- 1610 London and Bristol CompanyLondon and Bristol CompanyThe London and Bristol Company came about in the early 17th century when English merchants had begun to express an interest in the Newfoundland fishery. Financed by a syndicate of investors John Guy, himself a Bristol merchant, visited Newfoundland in 1608 to locate a favourable site for a colony...
- 1616 Somers Isles CompanySomers Isles CompanyThe Somers Isles Company was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles, also known as Bermuda, as a commercial venture. It held a royal charter for Bermuda until 1684, when it was dissolved, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of Bermuda as a royal...
- 1629 Massachusetts Bay Company
- 1629 Providence Island CompanyProvidence Island CompanyThe Providence Company or Providence Island Company was an English chartered company founded in 1629 by a group of Puritans including Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick in order to settle Providence Island, off the Spanish Mosquito Coast of what became Nicaragua.Besides Lord Warwick, among the twenty...
- 1664–1674 Royal West Indian Company
- 1670 Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
- 1672 Royal African CompanyRoyal African CompanyThe Royal African Company was a slaving company set up by the Stuart family and London merchants once the former retook the English throne in the English Restoration of 1660...
- 1693 Greenland Company
French
- 1613 Company of One Hundred AssociatesCompany of One Hundred AssociatesIn 1627 the French government granted the company of 100 associates a monopoly on the fur trade in New france. In return the company was supposed to bring over 4000 French catholics to settle down in new france over the next 15 years. The company allowed the settlers to trade for furs directly with...
- 1664 Compagnie de l'OccidentCompagnie de l'OccidentThe Compagnie de l'Occident was a French Crown corporation that existed from 1664 to 1667. Its purpose was to exploit the resources of the French colonies and compete with the powerful Dutch and English companies....
- 1717 Compagnie du Mississippi
- 1635 Compagnie des Îles de l'AmériqueCompagnie des Îles de l'AmériqueThe Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique, French for Company of the American Islands, was a French chartered company that in 1635 took over the administration of the French portion Saint-Christophe island from Compagnie de Saint-Christophe which was the only French settlement in the Caribbean at that...
- 1660 Compagnie de ChineCompagnie de ChineThe Compagnie de Chine was a French trading company established in 1660 by the Catholic society Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, in order to dispatch missionaries to Asia...
- 1664 Compagnie des Indes OrientalesFrench East India CompanyThe French East India Company was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies in colonial India....
- 1664 Compagnie des Indes occidentalesFrench West India CompanyIn the history of French trade, the French West India Company was a chartered company established in 1664. Their charter gave them the property and seignory of Canada, Acadia, the Antilles, Cayenne, and the terra firma of South America, from the Amazon to the Orinoco...
German
- 1682 Brandenburg African Company
- 1752 Emden CompanyEmden CompanyThe Emden Company was a Prussian trading company which was established in 1752 to trade primarily with the city of Canton in China. Its full name was the Royal Prussian Asiatic Company in Emden to Canton and China , but it was generally known by the shorter name.The Company was made possible by the...
- 1882 German West African CompanyGerman West African CompanyThe German West African Company, in German Deutsch-Westafrikanische Gesellschaft / Compagnie, was a German chartered company, founded in 1885...
- 1884 German New Guinea CompanyGerman New Guinea CompanyThe German New Guinea Company was a German Chartered Company which exploited insular territory in and near present Papua New Guinea.- History :...
- 1884 German East Africa CompanyGerman East Africa CompanyThe German East Africa Company was an organization established at the start of the German colonization of East Africa. This company, in short, was responsible for the activities in the new colony such as setting up leadership, future explorations, and the development of the region.In 1888, the...
- 1891 Astrolabe CompanyAstrolabe CompanyThe Astrolabe Company was a German "colonial society" in Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, which existed from 1891 to 1896. On 27 October 1891 it was founded with a capital of 2.4 million marks...
Portuguese
- 1482 Companhia da GuinéCompany of GuineaThe Company of Guinea was a Portuguese governative institution whose task was to deal with the spices and to fix the prices of the goods. It was called Casa da Guiné , Casa da Guiné e Mina from 1482 to 1483 and Casa da Índia e da Guiné in 1499, or simply Casa da Índia.-See also:* Casa da Índia*...
- 1628 Portuguese East India CompanyPortuguese East India Company- Background :Portuguese trade with India had been a crown monopoly since the Portuguese captain Vasco da Gama opened the sea route to India in 1497-99. The monopoly had been managed by the Casa da Índia, the royal trading house founded around 1500. The Casa was responsible for the yearly India...
- 1888 Companhia de MoçambiqueMozambique CompanyThe Mozambique Company, in Portuguese the Companhia de Moçambique, was a royal company in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, that had the concession of the lands that include the present provinces of Manica and Sofala....
- 1891 Companhia do NiassaNiassa CompanyThe Nyassa Company, in Portuguese the Companhia do Nyassa, and sometimes spelled "Niassa", was a royal company in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, then known as Portuguese East Africa, that had the concession of the lands that include the present provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa between...
Low Countries
- 1602 Dutch East India Company (VOC)Dutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
- 1614–1642 Nordic Company
- 1614 New Netherland CompanyNew Netherland CompanyNew Netherland Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants.Following Henry Hudson's exploration of the east coast of North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company in 1609, several Dutch merchants sent ships to trade with the Native Americans and to search for the Northwest Passage...
- 1621 Dutch West India CompanyDutch West India CompanyDutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
- 1717 Ostend CompanyOstend CompanyThe Imperial Ostend Company was an Austrian private trading company established in 1717 to trade with the East and West Indies. For a few years it provided strong competition to the traditional colonial trading companies...
Scandinavian
- 1347 or earlier Stora EnsoStora EnsoStora Enso Oyj is a Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso-Gutzeit Oy in 1998. It is headquartered in Helsinki, and it has approximately 29,000 employees...
- 1616 Danish East India CompanyDanish East India CompanyThe Danish East India Company was a Danish chartered company.-History:It was founded in 1616, following a privilege of Danish King Christian IV....
- 1671 Danish West India CompanyDanish West India CompanyThe Danish West India Company or Danish West India-Guinea Company was a Danish chartered company that exploited colonies in the Danish West Indies. It was founded as the Danish Africa Company in 1659 in Glückstadt by a German Hendrik Carloff and two Dutchmen Isaac Coymans and Nicolaes Pancras....
(1671) Royal GreenlandRoyal GreenlandRoyal Greenland A/S is a fishing company in Greenland. The company operates in a number of towns and settlements in Greenland, with 20 fish processing plants and ship bases of local subsidiary units... - 1638–1655 New Sweden Company
- 1649–1667 Swedish Africa Company
- 1731–1813 Swedish East India CompanySwedish East India CompanyThe Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the Far East...
- 1786–1805 Swedish West India CompanySwedish West India CompanyThe Swedish West India Company was a Swedish chartered company which was based in the West Indies. Between 1786 and 1805, the company operated from the Swedish island of Saint-Barthélemy....
- 1738 Swedish Levant Company
See also
- British colonization of the AmericasBritish colonization of the AmericasBritish colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
- Hongs
- American Colonization SocietyAmerican Colonization SocietyThe American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...