Initially the mercantilism system weighed lightly on the New World colonists.

The laws were largely

ignored and with slaves providing the backbone of the commerce system the colonial merchants were
still profiting. Increasing imports as well as exports kept the economy growing and so the colonists
complained very little.

The Mercantilism system began in 1651 with the passing of the first of the Navigation Acts. These
Navigation Acts were created to address the issues of the nations trading monopolies carrying goods
from other countries rather than their own. It was intended that a particular nations trading company
would only carry that nations goods to its colonial markets and back or pay a substantial penalty. These
acts went so far as to detail which of the colonial products could only be transported to England,
whether for England’s consumption or further export at profit. To further limit the independence of the
colonies and to ensure their dependence on the motherland, England passed several laws such as the
“Wool Act of 1699, Hat Act of 1732, and Iron Act of 1750” (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, & Armitage,
2009, p. 94). These acts prevented the manufacture of specified products within the colonies. Due to
these limitations imports from Britain increased 400 percent between 1700 and 1760 while exports only
rose 165 percent.

While Britain, England, and France waged war between 1713 and 1744 the colonies continued to see
large profits in the trade with Europe. Due to a high tax on anything from outside of their empire, the
colonists were able to maintain steady profits from their commodities both locally and through trade to
Europe. A number of the colonies produced items that had no limitations imposed upon their sale such
as grain, flour, meat, and dairy products. Some merchants ignored the mercantilist laws and avoided
paying the taxes by trading New England goods such as food for sugar and molasses in the Caribbean.
The illegal trade, slave labor, and increasing colonial production allowed the colonies to continue to
profit and allowed them to purchase imports from Europe.

References:
Faragher, J., Buhle, M., Czitrom, D., & Armitage, S. (2009). Out of many: A History of the
American People (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

(2011). American History I Primary Source Documents. Boston, MA: Pearson