ire royal administration, and in doing so, proved himself to be France’s greatest financial genius. Colbert’s main principle was that the wealth of and the economy of France should serve the state. Although he did not invent the thoery of mercantilism, he was able to apply it rigorously to France. Colbert believed that a successful economic policy meant more than a favorable balance of trade, therefore, insisting that the French sell abroad and buy nothing back. France should be self-sufficient and able to produce everything the subjects of the French king needed within it’s borders. Colbert attempted to accomplish self-sufficiency by supporting and subsidizing both old industries and newly created ones. To ensure order within every industry, Colbert compelled all craftsmen to organize into guilds, and within every guild he gave the maters of the guilds total power over the workers. He also encouraged skilled foreign craftsmen amd manufacturers to immigrate to France by giving them special privileges. Colbert’s most important work was in fact the creation of a powerful merchant marine which transported French goods and improved France’s transport systems with canals. He gave bonuses to shipbuilders and shipowners to strengthen trade, and he also established a method of maritime conscription, academies for training sailors, and also arsenals. To protect foreign goods, he abolished several domestic tariffs and enacted high foreign tariffs, which prevented foreign products from competing with French goods and services. Colbert had hoped to eventually make Canada part of the vast French empire because of it’s untapped minerals and rich agricultural land. In order to accomplish this, Colbert shipped four thousand peasants and shipped them to Quebec, a city established by Sully, which became the capitol of French Canada, to increase colonial expansion and France’s economic base in the New World. T...
