Mercantilism

Todd Robinson

Mercantilism was the theory of trade produced by the major European powers from roughly 1500 to 1800. It proposed that a nation should export more than it imported and accumulate bullion in order to make up the difference in trade. The exportation of finished goods was favored over primary industries like farming. It was the economic counterpart of absolutism. Its 17th-century publicists, (The largest being) Thomas Mun in England, Jean-Baptiste Colbert in France, and Antonio Serra in Italy.

Mercantilism was a reaction against the economic problems of earlier times when states were too weak to guide their economies, and also when all towns levied its own tariffs on goods passing through its borders.

The modern age brought the rise of large and powerful nation states, and was marked by almost constant warfare. Bullion was needed to support, and supply ever-expanding armies and navies. Mercantilist concepts developed from this supply and demand.

Underlying this theory was the belief that wealth was very limited. If one nation hoped to grow wealthier, it had to do so at the expense of some other nation (i.e. the British Opium wars on China).

In order to stay on the top of the mercantilism food chain, many European countries were quick to colonize in order to get materials in which the mother country could take the raw resources and manufacture them into goods in which they sold to other countries. Although mercantilism seemed great from the European perspective, the colonies completely opposed mercantilism because it promoted mother countries taking a colonies resources on top of taxes.

In England the application of the mercantilist theory led to the development of a skilled labor force at its home, and the creation of a large navy, and a merchant marine. However, mercantilism also led to inflation.

The theory of mercantilism was put into practice in many of the English colonies through the Navigation Acts.

Armstrong, Monty. //Cracking the AP World History Exam//. New York: Random House, 2011.

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Dylan Soechting

Mercantilism is a trade theory that developed in the “Age of Exploration” and “Industrial Revolution. What mercantilism says is to seek a favorable balance of trade, which means to have more exports than imports. The reasoning for this practice is because they believed that to have a dependency on another country showed weakness. It was also believed that one country’s profit was a result of another country’s loss. In order to stay on the top of the mercantilism food chain, many European countries were quick to colonize in order to get materials in which the mother country could take the raw resources and manufacture them into goods in which they sold to other countries. Although mercantilism seemed great from the European perspective, the colonies completely opposed mercantilism because it promoted mother countries taking a colonies resources on top of taxes.Armstrong, Monty. //Cracking the AP World History Exam//. New York: Random House, 2011.

Stearns, Peter N. //World Civilizations: The Global Experience //. New York: Pearson Longman, 2003. "mercantilism." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online //. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2012.
 * Armstrong, Monty. Cracking the AP World History Exam. New York: Random House, 2011. **

Dylan Soechting, Todd Robinson, Raymond Brown