Mercantilism In The American Colonies

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 Northern Colonies as an Empire of Goods” by T.H. Breen deals with how the economic developments of the 1740s affected the economic relationship between the colonies and Great Britain. Basically merchants started to arrive along with new supplies which led to the colonists to depend on the British. In the beginning they refused to have to go to the merchants so, whenever they were in need of any goods, they would go knocking on their neighbor’s door. The merchants were the last resort. This introduced them to what was almost the opposite of the lineal family. Once the population in the their area started to rise , many picked up and traveled towards west. At this point in time, the British importations increased tremendously.

The New England Colonies were the first English colonies in North America, and are where the United States History had started. Economically, the New England colonies consisted of subsistence farming, which is a farming method in which farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families. Shipbuilding industries were also used, a system in which ships were being built for uses such as trading. Cod industries, which worked as fishing industries. Grain mills and saw mills methods were also practiced and helped contribute to the New England colonies’ economy. Trading and fishing also played a big part in the advancement of the economy. All of these economic characteristics are tied to mercantilism somehow.

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

The colonisation of North America by the Europeans became one of the most crucial points for the native North Americans. The differing experiences of contact between both cultures had overwhelmingly disastrous impacts on the normal way of life. From such contact arose the issue of land disputes, in turn resulting in massacres and frontier wars which could have otherwise been unnecessary. The factors stated above provide a suitable stimulus for a discussion in regards to the varying encounters of the Indigenous North Americans.

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.

The colonists as we know came to the New World to start a better life in a new place. However, it was later proven that they wanted to make money in all sorts of things and ways and they also wanted to practice their religion away from anyone else. Therefore, it is clear to say that the colonists came to the New World to make money and practice their own religion.

During the Ages of Exploration, various European nations, such as Spain, French and England, created colonies in the newly discovered America. England, in particular, created settlements near the East coast of North America. The reason behind the rapid expansion and colonization was the idea of mercantilism. Mercantilism is when the mother country, England, exports more than it imports. The colonies were responsible for bringing the raw materials to the mother country, where it was turned into finished goods and then be exported. Mercantilism was believed to be a zero-sum game, which meant that if one country had something, other countries could not take it. Since Spain already had various settlements in the New World, England wanted to compete with them and gain land to become more economically advanced. Two particular regions of settlement for the English colonies were the Chesapeake region and New England. The Chesapeake region include present-day Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The New England region included Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Although they were both English colonies, they had developed distinct societies. People left England to go to the New World for different reasons. Whether it was for religious or for political reasons, it had caused the two regions of settlement to differ from each other in the colonies’ social, political, religious, and economic aspects.

Starting in the late 1600’s to the early 1700’s, the great nation of America began to take its shape. The Mid- Atlantic colonies, consisting of Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey, were especially productive in this growing time period. Through their diverse population they created an atmosphere of amity throughout the region, attracting large numbers of European immigrants. Their extremely tolerant habits in regards to differences in religious beliefs anticipated the American future. The colonies not only shaped the way for thousands of new settlers coming to the New World, but they also began an empire of agriculture and trade for generations to follow due to their prestigious land and prime location. The colonists during the early 18th century in the Mid Atlantic region

Mercantilism is an economic theory where a nation's strength comes from building up gold supplies and expanding its trade. Britain formed the American colonies so that they could increase their gold stores. They wanted raw supplies to make into products to sell and make money. They wanted America to pay taxes so that Britain could make money. America used the theory in that they thought they ought to, in order to be strong expand their trade beyond Britain. Countries like Belgium, and France wanted to also increase their trade, and expand it to trading with America. They also wanted to increase their gold stores by trading with America. Britain however did not want America to trade with France and Belgium and the Netherlands because they

The colonists were not allowed to send products to other countries or had to pay large tariffs to send them there so that England profited

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.

During the mid-17th century the colonies' purpose was to fulfill a mercantilist role, in which raw materials were exported from the colonies as resources for English manufactured

The definition of Salutary Neglect is an unofficial and long term 17th and 18th-century British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws meant to keep American colonies obedient to England. This British policy of Salutary Neglect was never documented although Britain was strict about it. Salutary Neglect often is associated with laws regarding trade. It was effected during mainly the Navigational Acts and the Triangular Trade.

From 1607 to 1754, people’s views on governing themselves changed greatly. It began in 1607, with the settlement of Jamestown. They were a corporate colony, working for the Virginia Company, they were whole-heartedly British. The Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, and the Tradition of Neglect all introduced new ways for the American colonies to think of themselves as more independent. Although they still considered themselves part of the British Empire, by the end of this era they had discovered that they could make their own laws and constitutions that fit the way that their world worked as opposed to Great Britain.