ipl-logo

Mercantilism In The 1500s And 1600s

574 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mercantilism in 1600

In the 1500's and 1600's, the world powers of Spain and England began to settle and colonize the land in what is now known as America. Both Spain and England followed the concepts of Mercantilism to attempt to strengthen their countries. Each of the two nations however, had a very different idea of how to use the land they occupied to benefit themselves. Their ideas of how to extract wealth from the newly found land in North America determined how successful their colonies and settlements were. Mercantilism is the concept that to be successful, a government should be "designed to secure an accumulation of bullion, a favorable balance of trade" (Meriam Webster). England and Spain, used the concept of Mercantilism to gain wealth and power from their newly developed colonies in North America. Spain had a plan to go to the colonies and extract gold and silver from the land. England however, had a plan to go to the colonies, settle on the land, and accumulate items that could be traded to other countries in exchange for money. Spain sailed over the Atlantic Ocean in the late 1500's to settle in North America. "St. Augustine in Florida was established as a Spanish fort in 1565, the first permanent settlement in what would become the United …show more content…

The settlers began immediately on using the raw materials in the area for trade. Some of the raw materials used for trade included corn, wheat, tobacco, lumber, and fish. The system of trade that England developed in their colonies set them up for a substantial income in their country since, "The policy of Mercantilism favored England because the raw materials from the colonies were used to make different products in England" (Trade in the Colonies). England's use of the land and the resources within it benefited them greatly and helped them gain power due to their strong source of raw materials coming from from North

Show More
Related
940 Words | 4 Pages

The English also seeked raw materials that were scarce in England, and were costly when buying from other countries. The New England area had an abundance of timber that was sent to England to build ships. This timber, and other raw materials became the driving force of New England economy, because of the high demand in England. In England, there were much higher inflation rates, and lower pay than in the colonies, due to the saturated market. Therefore, the American colonies held more economic opportunities than England, with the chance of expanding their

Read More
543 Words | 3 Pages

After using resources and assets, the British tried to regain control over the colonies by using an idea called mercantilism. This established that a countries wealth is determined by its gold and silver. This set forth that a country must become wealthy by increasing exported goods. This

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction In the 1500s were there were only 13 colonies, they traded many items that soon became the center of there region, but, trading these days is isn’t as important as it was those days. The most important things is getting resources from other countries. If we can go back at that time when trading was important, there would be a lot of merchants in the ports trading many things. There were many farmers in the southern colonies that grow many things.

Read More
1182 Words | 5 Pages

The English Colonies alongside the Atlantic Coast in the 1600’s - 1700’s began with the failed attempt to establish the Roanoke Colony in Virginia, which was later surpassed by the Virginia Company, a joint stock company, that established the colony of Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay area. Following the success of the establishment of Jamestown was a series of devastating events known as the “starving period”, which caused scare food sources, conflicts with natives, and starvation that characterized the lives of the early settlers. However, once the government had a stable foundation of laws, and once people started to settle into the colonies, the menacing conditions transpired into renowned opportunities. As these opportunities arose, so did the differences amongst the colonies and the reasons for leaving England. As people continued to settle into these colonies, England found ways to become highly profitable through a system called mercantilism, which provided it with sustainable wealth.

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

During the time of the 1650’s the Americas were not a part of what is now the United States and other countries in Central America and as well as the Caribbean. During those years European countries who were dominate in exploring the world and conquering new lands were the British, Spanish, French and the Dutch. The world economy was greatly impacted by the production of goods the Americas could provide Europe and even parts of Asia. The America’s were rich in materials that could not be made vastly, like the production of cotton, crops, tobacco and as well as natural gems like gold and silver that would increase wealth of the country who was exploring the region at the time. The British crown at the time was a powerful nation and if not the most powerful in wealth and military with great number of troops and

Read More
518 Words | 3 Pages

The colonies also make crops and trade them with each other when they need things. The economic

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

‘New money’ would allow upward social mobility. Also, there was lots of land that could be acquired, and that allowed for economic growth. Mercantilism was a way that the British kept economic control of the colonies. This way, the colonies would make money for Britain. The navigation acts and the sugar act were both laws enacted to restrict trade in the colonies.

Read More
767 Words | 4 Pages

In 1763 conflicts began to occur between the American colonists and British policy makers. The issues began as George Grenville, prime minister, believed that the colonists should have to obey more laws and pay a part of the expense for defending and administering the empire (Brinkley, 2012). This was an attempt to apply the principles of mercantilism to the colonies (Brinkley, 2012). From 1763 until the Revolutionary War began, the British kept making decisions of enforcement that caused more and more resentment from the American colonies. On his quest for more control over the colonists and to gain money from them, the Sugar Act and Currency act were passed in 1764.

Read More
1405 Words | 6 Pages

The main materials Europeans sought after were silver and gold because it symbolized a country’s superiority. A “favorable balance of trade” promoted a better work ethic to supply goods which benefitted the economy. The Navigation Acts were formed due to England’s competition with the Dutch for trade. So, these acts were created to ensure that only English ships could exchange goods with the colonies and the items could not be brought out of the domain. Mercantilism caused the colonies to be in debt to England because the goods that they exported were not as valuable as the goods imported from England.

Read More
386 Words | 2 Pages

• Spent a lot of time trading goods and exported agricultural/food related products to other colonies. Although it was difficult to farm here, they managed to grow things like pumpkins, squash, and beans for trade. • Molasses and Syrup was also a common good up for trade. It was usually made into rum and whisky. •

Read More
870 Words | 4 Pages

From the time of King Charles II, the British monarchy has accepted the policy of mercantilism, the economic belief that a nation can only gain wealth at the expense of another; it was Britain's motivation of founding colonies. The american colonies were a wealth of resources for their mother country. For about one hundred years, 1650-1750, the British government did not strictly enforce mercantilism in the colonies; however, after the French and Indian War Britain changed its colonial policies. From the declaration of the Proclamation Line, the official end to the French and Indian War, in 1763 to the signing of the Declaration of Independance in 1776, the colonies produced several violent demonstrations showing their support for Enlightenment

Read More
1120 Words | 5 Pages

Much of the population became farmers which provided imports to England. This helped to build a strong bond between Britain and America. The British relied strongly on colonial imports. Macmillan Learning states, “Despite the many differences among the colonists, the consumption of British exports built a certain material uniformity across region, religion,

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

The English were more concerned with finding gold rather than building functioning societies; which were primarily built around biblical teachings, while the Spanish intended for European national power to extend to western civilization beginning with Catholicism and influence of the pope. English settlers were driven from England due to religious practices and perceived themselves as saving the Indians from the Spanish and their tyrannical ways. For the English, owning land would give men control over their own labor and the right to vote in most colonies, and this land possession would show wealth. This new obtained wealth would not only have demonstrated power, but it could also be used to influence a society a certain way to convince others to follow suit. The English believed that their motives for colonization were pure, and that the growth of empire and freedom would always go together, unlike the Spanish.

Read More
766 Words | 4 Pages

Having the use of trade available to different nations made it easier to focus on aspects of receiving the raw materials to make countries more valuable. According to a reliable source, “Overseas colonies could serve as reliable sources of raw materials not available in Europe that came into demand because of industrialization” (911). This meant that they could get rubber from rubber trees in the Congo River basin and Malaya and use it to make many things, from tires to pipes. Tin came from colonies in southeast Asia and copper came from central Africa. Tin and copper were mostly used to make tools and weapons.

Read More
1932 Words | 8 Pages

Clinical microbiologists is a career that I have a major interest in. I choose this career because I want to do lots of research that involves with diseases and also deals with the health industry. I am not too sure if I want to become a physician without doing many research. I want to be able to do both, be a physician and researcher. Clinical Microbiologists are medical scientists who study bacteria, viruses, fungi and dangerous parasites.

Read More

More about Mercantilism In The 1500s And 1600s

Related Topics

Open Document