A successful economic strategy known as mercantilism, which flourished in Great Britain during the 16th and 18th centuries, aims to boost a country’s riches through exporting. Between 1640 and 1660, while mercantilism was at its height, the nation reaped its grandest rewards (British Parliament 1660). At that time, conventional economic wisdom held that the monarchy’s territories could provide the mother country with assets and raw materials and then serve as export destinations for manufactured goods. Great Britain was not the only country to believe that the consequent positive trade balance would improve national income. A strong nation could not survive and be self-sufficient without imperial riches. Thus, the French, Spanish, and Portuguese contended with the British for territories. Due to its dependence on the colonies, Great Britain placed limitations on how its territories could manage their finances and property. The below discussion aims to explore how mercantilism affected the development of Atlantic empires.
Trade limitations were enacted as a result of mercantilism, which hampered colonial corporate independence and progress. Prior to the middle of the 17th century, the Spanish and Dutch dominated much of the commerce, involving that going to and coming from England. That is until the British made the decision to seize control of their own maritime rights and fully cut these other countries out of the picture. The Acts of Trade and Navigation were enacted in Britain in the 1660s (British Parliament 1660). These were a set of rules, often referred to as the Navigation Acts, that were created to increase the reliance of the American colonies on goods produced in Great Britain. Additional protected items listed by British officials were sugar, cigarettes, cotton, indigo, fur coats, and iron, which would only be supplied to British traders.
However, Britain’s victory in the maritime wars was not free. In actuality, throughout this period, the nation’s imperial empire – as well as other European empires – committed numerous trespasses and human rights crimes on its possessions in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that not all of these offenses were explicitly justified by mercantilism (British Parliament 1660). The British authorities insisted on the exchange of gold and silver coinage and constantly sought a favorable trade balance. As a result, the colonies frequently ran out of bullion that could be used in their own marketplaces, so they started printing paper money instead. The duration of inflation was caused by the improper handling of printed money. Additionally, there was almost perpetual warfare in Great Britain. The military and navy needed funding, which came from taxes. Inflation and taxes together greatly irritated the colonists. Early American history saw some of the most important taxes.
Thus, it seems reasonable to state that in the 16th and 18th centuries, England passed new legislation that placed levies on imports of foreign products and limited navigation via English waterways. As a result, mercantilism emerged as the dominant economic theory of the period. The colonists were urged to buy commodities from England instead of from competing countries. The raw resources from the territories were shipped to England, where they were transformed into completed goods and resold to the colonists. Because of this, Britain was able to control the slave trade and ship slaves from English harbors to America. A split developed between the colonists and England due to the high prices and onerous taxes of the colonies, which stimulated the development of wealthy Atlantic empires in general, which was founded on the bones of colonies’ economies.
Reference
British Parliament. 1660. Excerpts from the Navigation Act. Digital History. Web.