What was purpose of a colony during the age of imperialism

By using colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for manufactured goods, colonial powers held back the colonies from developing industries. One reason why the standard of living was so poor in many of these countries was that the natural wealth of these regions had been funneled to the mother countries.

Explanation:

500 books can be produced by one man and a printing press within 5 months, while a copyist can only produce one in the same amount of time

answer placeholder because the system is messed up