What were the effects of colonialism and
mercantilism in America?
First to answer the question of the effects of
colonialism and mercantilism in America we must have a clear definition of the
two concepts presented in the question; colonialism and mercantilism. In simple
terms colonialism is the action of control or governing influence of a specific
territory and its people in other terms is the practice of domination which
involves the subjugation, as for mercantilism is a system of political and
economic policy undertaken by some European states between the sixteenth century
and the eighteenth century. According to the system it allow state
intervention, money was regarded as store of wealth, and the goal of the state
was to accumulation of precious metals, it also involves a favorable balance of
trade. To answer the question above we will explore four key factors; the
history of colonialism by the British in America, the massive exit of Europeans
to America (the new world), the economic development and the culture.
For a period of time and before 1660, the
British didn’t acknowledge the American settlements because they were
distracted by political chaos and a civil strife, all of this change when the
monarchy was restore under what is known as the Stuart restoration which led
the organization of settlements and exploitation in the territories of Maine
south to Spanish Florida. The reason of
the massive exit of Europeans to America were because of a series religious
reformations, the opportunities for stable economic life including cheap land,
religious toleration, representative government and the implement of rights but
in my opinion the most important was the concept of individual enterprise,
sooner this phenomena would led to a highly economical state of the colonies.
By the first half of the eighteenth the Europeans demanded tobacco, rice,
sugar, meat, lumber, ground vegetables and other products. This had two effects
the establishment of slavery due to the demand of cheap and easily exploited
labor and because of the expansion of the colonies, British officials found
necessary to passed a series of acts between 1660 and 1750 forbidding colonial
producers to compete with British manufactures, and also that all trade between
England and her colonies must be carry in British boats and other acts that
restricted a fair competition, this would later led to the seek of independence
by the colonies.
The American colonies grew in all the aspects
population and economy in 1700 there were around 250 thousand people living in
the colonies by 1775 there were two and a half million. The immigrants that
populated America were from England, Germany, Ireland and Scotland all of them
came looking for opportunities, freedom and without even knowing searching for
the pursuit of happiness a key phrase that would be marked in the birth of a new
nation. This mixture of cultures created a new society that had new ideas, new
principles and a new vision.
So what were the effects of mercantilism and
colonialism in America in my opinion the effects led to the birth of one of the
strongest nation in the world not only this but also a new way of thinking from
people that believed in new ideas, religious freedom, in a new form of
government that would represent everyone equally (for African Americans this
process would take longer) and most important in the concept that many still
believe today “American dream”.
