Mercantilism was an economic theory that was current between about 1550 and 1760. First‚ it stated that wealth can be created only by trading between nations‚ using the products in which each has a special advantage. The second feature formed the principle behind colonialism because it stated that an increase in the wealth of one country must cause a reduction of wealth in others. By deduction‚ for "civilised" European countries to become richer‚ countries in Africa‚ Asia and America will need to
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Geography’s effect on the English colonies is indisputable‚ but was it the primary factor for shaping the colonies? I think it is‚ whether it was good or bad the geography always played an important part in the lives of the English colonist. From the swampy terrain of Jamestown to the bays of the Northern colonies‚ each played an integral part in the development of the colonies. I’ll start with Jamestown‚ one of the first colonies to make it. The beginning of Jamestown was almost it’s end‚ the
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the eighteenth century‚ Europe shifted from its once widely accepted manorial system to mercantilism—an economic policy that permitted a nation to restrict the exchange and purchasing of goods between itself and its colonies alone. However‚ as European powers continued to expand and dominate the world economy‚ they enacted strict laws and regulations that controlled the economic affairs in their respective colonies—which encouraged the controversial act of smuggling‚ an act that was deemed necessary
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Throughout the 1760s and 1770s‚ relations between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies were becoming a major problem. Great Britain was continuously being unjust and unfair to the colonists by taxing them without their consent‚ closing their ports‚ killing the colonists‚ and many other one sided actions. The colonists grew weary of this very quickly and decided they had had enough of it. This led to the colonists declaring their independence from Great Britain in 1776. After the French and Indian
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Although most people only know of the “thirteen original colonies”‚ there were‚ in fact‚ thirty-two English colonies in North America by 1775. However‚ only thirteen of them participated in rebellion. These thirteen settlements shared certain characteristics‚ most prominently of all‚ their rapid population growth. There were 300‚000 people in the New World in 1700‚ but by 1725‚ 2.5 million populated the thirteen colonies; it went from twenty English subjects for every American to only 3 for every
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By the end of the French and Indian War Great Britain’s national debt had grown exponentially. As a result‚ Parliament began to press the issue of mercantilism (taxation) in order to compensate for the budget deficit. According to America: A Narrative History Brief Ninth Edition‚ the average Briton paid twenty-six times the median yearly taxes paid by Americans‚ so Parliament reasoned that they should share the greater portion of the cost of the British troops providing their defense. Many Americans
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towards its empire was known as mercantilism. The idea behind mercantilism was to amass wealth through a favorable balance of trade‚ or exporting more goods than were imported. Within the idea of mercantilism‚ the colonies were meant to be a source of raw materials and a market for manufactured products. Even though the mercantile theory seemed to prosper between England and the colonies‚ the underlying resentment from the colonies towards it and its negative effects on them eventually led to its failure
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The first people who came over from Europe‚ to the new world‚ lived in colonies. Colonies were large areas of land ruled by the nations of Europe. For the most part‚ Britain ruled the thirteen colonies in America. Britain was very far away. It took weeks to sail across the Atlantic Ocean by ship. It was difficult to send people or messages back and forth that made colonists feel independent. They thought they could run their own lives. They had their own leaders and they made their own laws. At first
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Mercantilism and Protectionism Today Introduciton Mercantilism as one of the first and oldest economic theories‚ since political economy arose as a science‚ does not belong just to the past. Mercantilism and protectionism as its policy is very present and actively used even today. Actually‚ it has never disappeared. The mercantilists preached that countries should always strive to have a trade surplus and avoid trade deficits at all cost. That is partly because they viewed the flow of gold as central
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The rise of tobacco‚ sugar‚ and other exports from the colonies of the western hemisphere were valuable to the European nations. As early as 1651‚ England enacted “navigation laws” that were the beginning of a mercantilist system that “regulated economic activity so as to promote national power”4. Since the colonies of North America were controlled by England‚ the acts of mercantilism had its effect on the colonies. “Certain ‘enumerated’ goods—essentially the most valuable colonial
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