Question

Why did paying of the Plymouth colony's debt help the colony succeed?

Answer 1

The fur trade industry was the colony’s economic salvation. For the first few years that the colony existed, the colonists struggled to make enough money to pay the investors back. In fact, they had to ask for more money just to keep the colony running and by the mid to late 1620s, they were deeply in debt to the investors.

To help pay down the debt they still owed, the colonists established a beaver fur trading base in Kennebec, Maine by 1625.  

This fur trading business was very successful for the colonists and quickly became an essential part of their economy. Their success in this trade continued well into the 1630s and 1640s..