The Americas were held in colonial rule from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. European powers invaded and took over, with Britain ruling the North and Spain taking South and Central America. While both empires used mercantilism and imperial rule to control their colonies, the implementation is starkly different. The new colonies’ political systems reflected those of their home country. The Thirteen Colonies and British North America upheld the British ideals of common law and democracy, and placed importance on local governments. This practice of local governing as well as Britain’s policy of salutary neglect allowed the colonies to largely self-govern. On the other hand, the Spanish colonies were held in tight imperial rule. Governed by extensive bureaucracies and a rigid caste system, Latin America had little say in politics; town councils, called cabildos constituted the only voice of the colonists in their government. …show more content…
British Parliament’s Navigation Acts attempted to control the economy by establishing a monopoly on trade, i.e. only allowing American-made goods to travel through British fleets and preventing imports from the rest of Europe in to the colonies. However, salutary neglect allowed the colonists to get away with quite a bit of foreign trade without much punishment. Latin America also featured monopoly ports, and while illegal smuggling still occurred, Spain was much more effective in preventing foreign, and even inter-colony, trade. Unlike their British counterparts, the Spanish colonies had no manufacturing system, forcing them to rely entirely on Spain for everything except raw materials; the colonies relied entirely on bullion which led to steep inflation, and ultimately the downfall of the