Trans-Atlantic Trade: British Mercantilism

British mercantilism established itself with the help of the trans-Atlantic trade. Great Britain was then able to have adequate supremacy over the colonies to impose several acts such as the Navigation Acts and Molasses Act. Trade routes linked the American Colonies, West Indies, Africa and England. England, being the mother country, wanted a favorable balance of trade. The triangular trade is an example of mercantilism, or the idea that the mother country gains wealth and power by controlling the trade of its colonies. By taking products from America and then either creating manufactured goods or selling the original products to other countries (foreign markets), England was able to profit from the wealth of goods found in America. An American merchant would not be able to deal with another country directly, but would have to operate within the rules the English government established for them. In order to increase Great Britain’s wealth, Britain tightened the economic policies in the colonies by instituting the Navigation Acts and Molasses Act. The Navigation Acts were acts were planned to promote the self-sufficiency of Great Britain by controlling colonial trade to England and reducing reliance on foreign investors. The first Navigation Act, instituted by Oliver Cromwell in 1651, targeted mostly at the Dutch, required all trade between England and the colonies to be carried in English or colonial ships. The Navigation Act of 1660 continued the policies made in the 1651 act and enumerated certain goods such as sugar, tobacco, cotton, and ginger. These items were to be shipped only to England or an English territory. After these acts were placed, they created serious drops in the trade of many North Carolina planters and merchants. The colonies soon relied on smuggling. The violations of the Navigation Acts led to passage of the Plantation Duty Act (1673), one of the issues that led to Culpeper's Rebellion. Molasses Act of 1733 was a British law