Exercises on the Treaty of Methuen

Draw a parallel between the Portuguese and British economy between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century.

A brief summary of the agreement signed through the Methuen Treaty, signed in 1703, involving Portugal and England.

What were the effects of the Methuen Treaty on the Portuguese economy?

Write a paragraph explaining how Brazilian gold ended up funding British industrial development.

Can the Methuen Treaty be seen as the only factor explaining the crisis of the Portuguese economy at the end of the 18th century? Justify your answer.

Portugal was in a very delicate economic situation, given that the country suffered from the colonial losses that occurred during the Iberian Union, used resources in the fight against the Spaniards in the so-called War of Restoration and paid compensation to the Dutch to recover the colonial space. northeast. On the other hand, England was experiencing a moment of economic consolidation in its country, where the bourgeois expansionist project prepared the ground for the development of the Industrial Revolution.

Through this treaty, England was favored in the purchase of wines produced by Portugal. On the other hand, Portugal benefited from the acquisition of British textile products at preferential prices.

Over time, the validity of this agreement encouraged a large portion of Portuguese landowners to use their land for wine production. Thus, the Portuguese agricultural space was limited, which ended up preventing the development of other activities that could boost the country's economy. At the same time, as Portuguese demand for English manufactured products increased, the country's economy was in crisis with the debts generated by the purchase of such products.

The Portuguese dependence on English manufactured products ended up generating a large deficit that was covered up with the sending of remittances and more remittances of gold extracted on Brazilian soil. Over time, the Brazilian precious metals acquired by England were of paramount importance for the British economy to emerge as the first nation to experience the gains and transformations established by the advent of the Industrial Revolution.

Not. Despite establishing several negative effects on the country's economy, the Methuen Treaty was just one of the problems faced by Portugal. Looking more closely, we can see that the lack of investment in a project to modernize the economy and the lack of interest of the national elites were also of great importance for this crisis to take hold on Portuguese soil.