Did the British economist Adam Smith think the colonization period was a success?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Adam Smith's writings focused on economic theory and he did not directly address colonization. However, he did express concern about the treatment of indigenous populations by European colonial powers. In his book "The Wealth of Nations," he wrote, "The discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind…But the accomplishment of these events has been very different from what was at first imagined; instead of two or three great proprietors, each having a considerable quantity of land, we have now the fact that the proprietors of the greater part of the lands in America are a prodigious number of little proprietors, every individual of whom possesses a very small estate." This passage suggests that Smith recognized the negative impact of colonization on native populations. Therefore, choice A is the best option.

Did the British Economist Adam Smith Think the Colonization Period