Mercantilism and its effects on the colonies essays

Mercantilism and its effects on the colonies essays In retrospect, America was inevitably a revolutionary force from the day of its discovery. America was a home for the latest thoughts and ideas about the nature of society, citizens, and government, and more often then not, conflicting ideas on how to manage the world would potentially create unpleasant surroundings. An example of this was when the British authorities embraced a theory known as mercantilism, that justified their control over the colonies, which would go on to be greatly resented by the American colonists. Mercantilism is the theory and system of political economy prevailing in Europe after the decline of feudalism, based on national policies of accumulating gold, establishing colonies and a merchant marine, and developing industry and mining to attain a favorable balance of trade. Mercantilists supposed that wealth was power, and that a countrys economic wealth could be calculated by the quantity of gold or silver in its countrys treasury. Possessing colonies therefore created distinct advantages, since the colonies could both provide raw materials to the mother country, thus reducing the need for foreign imports, and providing a definite market for exports. The London government saw the American colonists as tenants basically to avoid making for export certain products (beaver hats), who were expected to furnish products needed in the mother country (tobacco, sugar), to buy imported manufactured goods exclusively from Britain, and to not even think about economic independence or se lf-government. What were mercantilisms actual effects on the colonies? Occasionally the Parliament would pass laws to control the mercantilism system. One of these laws was The Navigation Law of 1650, which stated that all trade flowing to and from the colonies could be transported in British ships only. Laws that followed the Navigation Law stated that European goods heading for America had to land in Britain firs...