Reference no: EM133421108
Case Study: You are a member of the Kingdom of Chicago. You need to conduct trade with the people from the Kingdom of Nashville. Your trade route heads south, but when you get to the northern outskirts of the Kingdom of Indianapolis, you know there will be trouble. The Indianapolis people will not let you move through their kingdom. That means your trade routes only go as far south as the northern regions of their kingdom. Your trade will be smothered and the strength of the Kingdom of Chicago will slip. You will never get to trade with the Kingdom of Nashville.
Instead of giving up, the Kingdom of Chicago attacks the Kingdom of Indianapolis and takes over. They destroy the Indianapolis population and then cleared the trade route to Nashville. The Kingdom of Chicago's economic future is bright. However, you know the Kingdom of Indianapolis was allied with the Kingdom of Dayton. The Dayton people needed to be friends with the Indianapolis people so they could trade with the Kingdom of St. Louis. You know the Kingdom of Dayton will never simply allow Chicago to take Indianapolis. So, now that you have control of the Kingdom of Indianapolis you need to build forts and send troops to defend it. This costs money, so holding the Kingdom of Indianapolis needs to be cost effective. So, there is a group of people in Chicago who are a pain in the neck called Puritans. Send that group to Indianapolis to start a new life as a colony. They get out of your hair at home and if they get killed by natives, who cares? If they are successful, they send the profits to the Kingdom of Chicago.
Suddenly, the Kingdom of Dayton attacks your forts in Indianapolis. A huge fight takes place and the forces in Indianapolis are victorious. They now march east and take the crumbled Kingdom of Dayton. You send more troops from Chicago to Indianapolis and now must fortify not only Chicago and Indianapolis, but also the newly submitted Kingdom of Dayton. Your kingdom has grown and is powerful. You send an envoy to the Kingdom of St. Louis. That population now knows they can never withstand a fight with the mighty Chicago Empire. They are eager to settle for peace and become your ally. All this has taken place because of Chicago's desire to conduct trade with Nashville. Many native populations in Indianapolis and Dayton were wiped out. You needed those lands to find ways of support for the empire. Crops are made into products that will be sold to support the economy. These crops are tobacco and sugar cane that will be turned into rum. Everyone likes these products so they become hits at the European markets and sell really well! Natural resources such as coal, oil and iron ore will be utilized to build the empire. The other empires who do not have the resources will shrink in the shadow of the Empire of Chicago.
But all is not well! The Kingdom of Columbus is upset with the loss of the Kingdom of Dayton. The Kingdom of Atlanta is growing in strength to take control of the trade markets in Nashville. The Kingdom of Kansas City is upset whenever they think about those Chicagoans in St. Louis. And now the latest reports state that the Kingdom of Milwaukee has placed their troops on the border between the 'Land of Sky Blue Waters' and the 'Prairie State.'
Questiosn:
As a business owner and trader in Chicago, is the action of your kingdom's ruling force justified? Or, is the ruling force simply greedy?
Remember, France and Great Britain were serious rivals during the empire building era. France had New World colonial holdings west of Great Britain's colonial holdings. Everywhere the French and British crossed paths throughout the world, a fight would develop. Both Great Britain and France were striving for the same power that the Kingdom of Chicago enjoyed.