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How did mercantilism and salutary neglect shape the colonies? What were the implications for the future?

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How did mercantilism and salutary neglect shape the colonies? What were the implications for the future?

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Mercantilism was a theory that the British were interested in that held that a country’s ultimate goal was to become self-sufficient and that there was a “contest” to acquire the most gold/silver. Because the British supported mercantilism, they used the colonies for their raw materials to trade.
Salutary neglect was when the British relaxed their supervision in new measures, as long as the colonies continued to send raw materials back to the homeland and bought British goods.

These shaped the American colonies as it created new jobs in both material production and trade. It also encouraged slavery in order to produce more raw materials. This was to ensure a relationship between the colonies and the British and make the colonies more dependent, although it had the opposite impact.

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How Mercantilism and Salutary Neglect Impacted Economic Development

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How Mercantilism and Salutary Neglect Impacted Economic Development

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Mercantilism in Great Britain consisted of the economic position that, in order to increase wealth, its colonies would be the supplier of raw materials and exporter of finished products. With Salutary Neglect, the British became extremely lax on enforcing trade regulation and laws that had been put in place to ensure the colonies loyalty to the Crown. Mercantilism was not really good for colonists, though it was very beneficial for the King. Mercantilism brought about many acts against humanity, including slavery and an poorly balanced system of trade. The British policy of salutary neglect toward the American colonies inadvertently contributed to the American Revolution. This was because during the period of salutary neglect, when the British government wasn't enforcing its laws in the colonies, the colonists became accustomed to governing themselves. Since they became used to this style of hands-off governing, they began to resent the British Rule.

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/041615/how-did-mercantilism-affect-colonies-great-britain.asp

https://www.britannica.com/topic/salutary-neglect

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How did these policies make the colonies different from others in the British Empire?

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How did these policies make the colonies different from others in the British Empire?

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While the British were taking care of their own issues and Revolutions, they stopped keeping a close eye on the American colonies. This ment that England relaxed its enforcements of most rules. Although they had other colonies in the British Empire the American colonies were the only ones they ‘let loose’. As long as the colonies kept sending raw materials back to the homeland, following the idea of mercantilism, and purchasing English-made goods, parliament didn’t really feel the need to keep a close watch on the colonies. Soon they began to “self-govern” and get a feel of their independence. Eventually, this intriguing idea of being a self-governing, free country led to the ideas of an American revolution.

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How did this affect the entire “Atlantic World”?

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How did this affect the entire “Atlantic World”?

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These new laws affected both government’s sources of income for their economies. In the American colonies, a reduction in exports to Europe caused their trade systems to weaken significantly. Britain then had bigger problems to deal with, and the American colonies were forced to figure out alternatives to help fuel their own economy to keep the colonies alive. The American colonies then began trading with each other, instead of only relying on Britain for new products. This allowed the colonies to maintain a stable position without Britain’s assistance. The new trading system then enlightened Americans to feel a sense of nationalism. The American colonies continued to grow increasingly stronger and more self-sufficient. Evidently, the establishment of mercantilism and salutary neglect led to more American freedom.
- https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Documents/Social-Studies-United-States-History-Teacher-Notes.pdf
- https://www.landofthebrave.info/salutary-neglect.htm