Mercantilism Essay

Since the founding of the Thirteen Colonies, the colonists enjoyed a degree of autonomy and self sufficiency from the mother country, England. The colonies had colonial assemblies, which were more democratic than England’s and were independent governments. British mercantilist laws were not strictly enforced due to the policy commonly referred to as salutary neglect. However, as the British increasingly ignore the problems the colonies faced, the colonies began to look for a common government to lead them. This eventually led to three distinct efforts at intercolonial cooperation and union: The New England Confederation, Penn’s Plan of Union, and The Albany Plan of Union. Therefore, although there were unsuccessful attempts to unite the

The early 15th century marks a period in global history known as the Age Of Exploration, during which there was a scramble amongst European nations to explore, settle, and control the corners of the world. It was during this period that the British began to colonize the Americas, and, by the early 1700s, just a couple hundred years later, there were an estimated 250,900 people living in the American colonies. As the colonies grew more autonomous and a number of political issues developed in Britain, the British government began neglect their control of the day-to-day function of the colonies, the result of which was that between the years of about 1690 to 1763, the British employed a policy towards the American colonies known as salutary

Economically, the Crown did not provide as much assistance as needed to the colonists of the New World. Trade involved mainly countries other than England, because this way profits were maximized. England, once again, created its colonies for mercantilist reasons: profits and only profits. In reaction to these trade schemes, the Navigation Acts were enforced. Smuggling then grew extremely popular mainly because of price differences and simple convenience. Agriculturally, the main crops were indigo, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, and rice. Due to high demand, several workers were needed. Through the Triangular trade, raw materials went to England and the Northern Colonies, slaves came to the plantation-dominated areas of the colonies, and manufactured goods went to the West Indies. Molasses was turned into rum in New England and traded for more slaves as well.

Mercantilist ideas emphasized that nations should strive toward economic self-sufficiency and that the power of a nation should be measured by the amount of its gold and silver reserves. Ultimately, a nation should arrange to produce everything it needed for its own citizens and sell surpluses to for hard currency. This metal reserve, in turn, could be used in emergency situations to pay for wars or solve shortages. Colonies, like those England had in North America, played an important part in this economic equation. They could help England become self-sufficient by producing things that could not be made or grown there such as tobacco, sugar, and tall masts for ships. Colonists could also provide a market for British goods, particularly manufactured products, such as woolen cloth or beaver hats. This meant that the home economy in England could become more fully developed, while the colonial economies were relegated to a role of supplying raw materials.

An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic

During that period, it seemed as though the nation was being harmed by it. However, today’s successes in the republic may arguably be linked to the imperialism. The state acquired the chance and the ability to trade with other countries which boosted their economic status (Cain & Hopkins, 2016). Another benefit is that the semi-illiterate obtained significant education from the Britons in addition to the provision of sanitation. They introduced schools and other technical institutions that provided modern education to the natives. They were also taught how to improve their land production. It was significant because they yielded increased harvests from agricultural methods taught to

The biggest reason that colonists were becoming disgruntled with their mother country, Britain, was Britain’s heavy debts that Britain had accumulated while fighting wars with France which needed to be alleviated. As with all governments, Britain had to tax its people to procure the funds needed to pay these debts. Britain saw their colonies as thousands of British citizens that they had not taxed satisfactorily. After realizing this, Britain imposed several new taxes on goods imported and exported to and from the colonies. The colonists were livid over the new taxes. After all, Britain had practiced salutary neglect for almost 100 years. Salutary neglect is the practice of leaving one’s foreign acquisitions to their own devices with little to no interference of their government, social, or economic aspects. The colonists immediately began to petition these new taxes. Their logic: “No taxation without representation.”

     The English hardly every interfered with colonial business. During the period of salutary neglect, the colonists started to think and act independently of England. They lived far away from Britain and had grown self-reliant. Laws, such as the Navigation Acts, were not strictly enforced,

Self-Government or “Salutary Neglect” was the third factor that contributed to the American Revolution between 1619 to 1776. Salutary neglect allowed the colonists to experience self-government. When it ended, the colonists were upset because they wanted self- government. Self government was very important because it would serve as a future blueprint for the constitution of the United States of America. Salutary neglect ended in 1763 because they needed money to pay for the expenses of the French and Indian War.

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

Salutary Neglect- Between 1690 and 1760, the colonist went to little problems from the British. Salutary Neglect was an idea which could be beneficial to the colonies. The concept of this idea was that America could experience self-government and people could make their own rules. The Salutary Neglect make the colonies violate the Navigation Act and allowed the colonies to feel being independent. The colonies had their own legislatures which made their own laws.

While ideological differences may have contributed to the change from a friendly relationship to a hostile one, economics became a major factor as well. The British policy of salutary neglect originally had the colonists enjoying the benefits of trade and protection from the British without having the discomfort of rigid control. However, as the war progressed the British changed from the well-liked policy of salutary

The end of Salutary neglect is another factor that lead to the American Revolution. In the years after 1688, England turned much of its attention away from the colonies towards France, to compete for control of Europe. Ironically, through the strengthening of the Navigations Act, England appeared to have tightened its colonial grip but they actually loosened its hold. As long as the American colonies remained loyal and continued to buy English-produced goods, Parliament didn’t find the need to supervise the colonies closely. Under this period known as Salutary neglect, the colonies were quickly developing a taste for self-government. This ultimately created the conditions for rebellion when

In the mid 1860s, Great Britain’s attitude toward the colonies began to change. Britain determined to amendment the rules and create a free trade policy. The free trade policy was a devastating drafts because the colonies could no longer get money for bargaining goods. The colonies assured to place charges on all possessions pending into the colonies and this made the British exasperated because they had to profit the colonies to give them goods. The British attitudes went from supportive, to irritated and wanting to nudge the colonies away.

Although there were many changes during this time period in terms of their views on self-government, they still considered themselves a part of the British Empire. Even during the Tradition of Neglect, they only lost faith in the current government, not all of England. The colonies relied on Great Britain for many of their resources, as well as their economy. There was extensive trade between England and the colonies, and both places relied heavily on the income that was created from participating in the Atlantic Trade