On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 5:29 PM, Heather Madrone <heat...@madrone.com>wrote:
> I have heard that it was the result of an influx of precious metals from > the New World, which increased the money supply and allowed the European > economy to boom. Spanish gold retrieved after killing the Indians, and Brazilian silver mines mined using African slaves. Still the British didn't have much access to it, so they resorted to Indigo and Opium plantations in India when taxation didn't yield enough for the coffers after maintenance of the troops. Robert Clive is said to have had a retinue of 5000 servants. Lord Mountbatten in 1948 had 28 indoor gardeners at his Delhi mansion. Umm... I have a feeling this thread is about something else, but I've decided to contribute after reading just this single line. Yay! Cheeni
