The Virginia Company of London was a joint-stock company chartered by King James I in 1606 to establish a colony in North America. Such a venture allowed the Crown to reap the benefits of colonization—natural resources, new markets for English goods, leverage against the Spanish—without bearing the costs.
Because there would be more trade which will benefit the merchant.
"poll tax" describes a legal means southern whites used to prevent blacks from voting in the post-Reconstruction era but there were other means as well.