Evaluate+the+System+of+Mercantilism+and+determine+if+the+system+is+sustainable,+or+will+colonies+eventually+revolt+under+this+system?-LM

Imagine if you were a grown man, but your parents controlled everything you did. You couldn't even buy paper without it going through the approval of your guardians first. A grown man has a sense of his own, and is dying for independence with which to do whatever he pleases. If he is denied this freedom, rebellion usually ensues. This is no different from what happened with the American colonies and the British empire. The British empire, in this case, is the restricting parent; the American colonies are the grown man who has long outgrown the rules of his parents. One way that the colonists were "restricted" was the British policy of mercantilism. Mercantilism is a theory that states that a country's economic wealth can be measured by the amount of gold or silver in its treasury. Countries with colonies, such as Britain, were at an advantage in the eyes of mercantilists because colonies supplied the mother country with raw materials, wealth, supplies, and a guaranteed market for the mother country's exports. However, supplying raw materials and being a guaranteed export market allowed for little economic growth for the colonies. No one enjoys being stunted and kept from reaching his or her full potential. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the policy of mercantilism eventually would upset the people of the colonies. Colonies had to give Britain all the ships, ships' stores, sailors and trade that they asked for. Colonies were basically at the mercy of the British and they had to do whatever was asked of them in terms of trade. The Navigation Laws enforced the ideas of mercantilism so that colonists were then required by law to sell certain goods only to England. Also, the Navigation Laws said that in commerce between the colonies and England, only English ships could carry the goods to and from England. In addition, colonies had to grow tobacco and sugar for England. Enumerated goods could only be shipped to England. Colonists were restricted in what they could make for themselves in their own homes! This law seemed ridiculous to colonists. Who can tell you that you can't make your own clothes if you wish? Following the Navigation Acts, Prime Minister George Grenville secured the Sugar Act to increase money in the British treasury. It increased tax on sugar imported from the West Indies. Then, the Stamp Act was put into effect. It mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps, showing that the tax for the item was paid. The colonists felt like their money was being extracted from them by an unfair mother country who just wanted to "milk the colonies for all their worth". Although many colonists chose to ignore the positives of mercantilism, there were a few advantages to the policy. Colonists were guaranteed protection from Britain. They also were guaranteed a captive market. No matter what, Britain would always buy their goods, such as tobacco. Also they had a monopoly on certain markets. With all these restrictions on a growing nation, the situation was bound to explode eventually. It isn't possible for people to stay happy under such seemingly oppressive control. When people aren't happy, and they want completely different things than their overseers, they are going to rebel; such as what happened between the American colonies and the British. Mercantilism cannot successfully work when there is so much distance between the colonies and the mother country. It could possibly work if the colonies were more in the same vicinity as the mother country, because a lack of distance prevents too much difference of opinions and values. With the American colonies and Britain, the distance created a huge physical and spiritual gap between the two; which allowed for the emergence of a new, completely different country: America. If Britain had not naively tried to enforce the policy of mercantilism with their colonies, they might not have lost them. Mercantilism led to unrest, rebellion, violence, and ultimately, the Revolutionary War. Mercantilism can never really work over long distances, and other nations should take note of Britain's mistakes.