A theoretical history of corperations

First, let my preface this by saying, this is neither and anti-corp or pro-crop post. This is simple a speculation of how corporations developed from my knowledge and prospective from history. Okay, given that, here we go.

Baring either evolutionary history of any other history of the early world, there are a few things we know for certain.
One, most business was conducted by either the government or individuals.
Two, Mass production was not possible, as most things, from swords to pots were hand crafted.
With these two things set, I will begin the extrapolation of the histories!

In the "olden days", in the days of no set currencies, no central banks, and no tariffs, business was simple. If you wanted to make something, you did. Of course there was the pressure to go into the "family" business, but society did not have the restrictions that it did today. Because society pretty much met is own needs through subsistence farming and city craftsman. There was no large industries to speak of, save war, which always was around. So, there was not real need; neither was there ideas of large groups dedicated to profit. Nationalism (primitive kind) and ideals of citizenship was not really developed.

The middle ages can be almost ignored, but it is the renaissance that we want our attention on things called guilds. Guilds were things that regulated prices, help apprentices, and regulated trade to their advantage in their towns. They were, in some respects, there own corperations.

But they regulated trade, and did not directly do business, so they were not full fledged corporations yet.

What could be be described as early corporations are the trading companies of the 1700's. The Hudson bay company, the Virginia company, the Massachusetts bay company. All of these could qualify as corporations. They all want to make profits, in the form of gold or other valuables, their mission statement was to colonize the Americas for their countries, respectively.

Close, but not close enough. What those companies lacked was total private ownership. Companies that were not backed and funded by the government. These came around the time, you guessed it, the industrial revolution.

Why makes those companies the same as todays? They have total private ownership. They have the means of mass production, and matching logistics. And they have formal legal recognition as entities. This makes them corporations.

Wether you think corporations are people are not is another posts for another time. But I hope this has been informative.