Mercantilism In Colonial America

Between 1492-1776, although many people moved to the “New World”, North America lost population due to the amount of Indians dying from war and diseases and the inability of colonists to replace them. John Murrin states, “losers far outnumbered winners” in “ a tragedy of such huge proportions that no one’s imagination can easily encompass it all.” This thought of a decreasing population broadens one’s perspective of history from that of an excluded American tale full of positivity to that of a more unbiased, all-encompassing analysis. The Indians and slaves have recently been noted as a more crucial part of history than previously accredited with.

The purpose of mercantilism was to increase power, wealth and self sufficiency for the mother countries. England, Spain and france would often compete with each other to gain colonies in regions such as North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. Raw materials such as lumber, wool, iron, cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo were what England needed to be able to create manufactured goods. However, mercantilism in the American colonies were more dependent on the manufactured products of England. The Navigation Acts that were a series of laws were enforced by England so that they could make the American colonies more dependent on the manufactured goods of England.The American colonists were expected to buy manufactured goods like cloth, furniture,knives,

1. According to Adam Smith the discovery and colonization of America affected the economic development by the increase of its enjoyments and augmentation. The surplus produce of America, imported into Europe, furnished the inhabitants of this great continent with a variety of commodities.

So first off, let's talk about Mercantilism. What is bad about it you may ask? Well lets see from a coloniest point of view. So the mother country gets rich, as the colonies do not. The colonists must sell basically all of their raw materials to the mother country for whatever price the Mother country decides (a cheap price). They must buy manufactured goods from the Mother country (at a high prices) so do you see what I mean.

Britain was suffering harsh economic transformations that was making it difficult to thrive economically and rising population in Britain made it even worse. Therefore more money was needed to be made. The New World offered many raw materials from which they could manufacture items and sell them to other countries or their people thus starting colonizations in the New World. The more land they gathered, which they acquired forcefully at times, the more raw materials they were able to gather. These colonies became the source of goods that other nations were seeking to buy or trade for. This introduced the idea of Mercantilism to the new colonies and the people of Britain themselves. This process of mercantilism was not only helping the colonies, but the people who stayed behind too. There were new jobs due to the growing and flourishing of these colonies. As according to this website online,https://m.landofthebrave.info/colonial-times.htm, and many textbooks, the three regions of the New Colonies each had their specification in what they did to maintain an economic balance. The New England Colonies

The British had the idea of mercantilism where a the economys wealth was judged by how much gold and silver it had, the colonies supplied the mother land with materials and then the mother country produced products to sell back to the colonies

What allowed America its prosperity? Riddled with hurricanes, tribal warfare, harsh winters, and other difficulties, it seems like colonial America should’ve been decimated without constant support from Great Britain. And with benign negligence from Great Britain, Colonial America started to understand they could in fact hold their own as a group of colonies, but not without vast intellectual and economic innovation and progress to overcome the disasters of famine, weather, and the wild nature of the American continent. Colonial America saw these dangers and knew there was a need for a system to gather the most food and provide the most work; that system came to be known as capitalism after socialist-like communes failed their colonies.

America took great pride in their bustling, robust economy that was built from nothing. From the Columbian Exchange after Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492, to Triangular Trade in the eighteenth-century America

Trade was also a significant motivation for Europeans to “colonize territories across the seas”. Trade was one of the most effective ways to improve the economy for the Europeans, and a significant way

Key Terms and People mercantilism Mercantilism is a theory that states that a country grows to be strong and important through money that comes from a favorable balance of trade, meaning that a country must export more goods than it imports. Mercantilism kept England powerful, as the colonies provided raw goods that were used to make ships for the navy. Also, the raw goods were used to make products that were sold to other countries. England also had no cause to buy certain products from other countries. It was able to export more products than it imported, keeping the county wealthy and powerful.

The newfound access to previously hard to get goods shows how the Triangular Trade positively impacted the continents because they now had goods that no one in their country easily obtained before, and could use the new goods to sell and make even more of a profit, benefiting each continent. The uniting of the colonies and their leaders was a positive impact as a result of the trade because the united colonies were now stronger and could work together with the British to increase profits and make the colonies prosper, and it also gave the British increased control over the colonies. Also, the growth of colonial cities positively affected North America because they now had cities to be centers of trade. Since these cities were now trade centers,

The development of the American colonies had six different factors contributing to it. They were the Enlightenment, European population explosion, Glorious Revolution, Great Awakening, mercantilism, and Religious tolerance.

The initial interest of the colonies was to be able to maintain themselves until they received support and or supplies from the British. They struggled as they built their settlements and endured the hardships the land had to offer. Their inexperience in farming this land and the lack of available food began to dwindle the numbers of the first settlers. However, as they received more help, whether in the form of a supply drop from the British, or the assistance offered from the native peoples, they grew and could keep their foothold in these new lands. The ability to adapt to this new environment continued over the years and carried over into politics and beliefs they held as they grew separated from the mainland,

One huge figure that driven to the colonists’ discontent is Mercantilism. Mercantilism was the thought that colonies were an vital source of crude materials. A parcel of the crude materials were taken from America and sent to Britain to offer assistance the mother nation fabricate products to exchange with other nations. It was thought that by expanding trades and collecting valuable metals in return, that it would progress the national riches and control.

. At the expense of the English colonies, the employment of mercantilist policies permitted the British Empire to prosper in wealth and power.