Mercantilism In North America

For the colonists living in what was to become the United States of America, representative government was essential to their freedom. Where the limits of freedom meet the rules of law has been debated for centuries. Governments have proven to infringe upon the rights of citizens time and time again. History has also revealed that too much freedom left unchecked in the hands of citizens can also lead to anarchy and injustice. When the settlers first came to the Americas, they took the dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean with the hope of developing a land that was free from the war and religious strife of Europe. The settlers came from all over Europe in an effort to improve their lives and to facilitate the start of a new
The rise of tobacco, sugar, and other exports from the colonies of the western hemisphere were valuable to the European nations. As early as 1651, England enacted “navigation laws” that were the beginning of a mercantilist system that “regulated economic activity so as to promote national power”4. Since the colonies of North America were controlled by England, the acts of mercantilism had its effect on the colonies. “Certain ‘enumerated’ goods—essentially the most valuable colonial products, such as tobacco and sugar—had to be transported in English ships and sold initially in English ports”5. Mercantilism helped England gain control of commerce, strengthening its standing in the world. The colonist frequently avoided the navigation laws that England established. The failure on England to enforce the laws that it put in place is worth noting. The colonist had created a society that enjoyed more freedom than those citizens of Europe. The old world rules of Europe and the autonomy of the colonists in the new world would soon
Representation gave the citizens a voice in matters that directly affected their lives politically. They believed in fair trade, property rights, and the right to live free of government control. The colonists were convinced that a government that was limited in scope and power, but one that could maintain order in society was there right. In the eyes of England, the colonists were subjects of the empire. They believed they had the authority to tax and control the colony from London. They had no intention of turning away from their conviction of control over the colonies. The Sugar Act, Revenue Act, Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Boston Massacre, the Intolerable Acts, and the Tea Act became a chord of issues that exacerbated the problems between England and the colonists. Restricting the right of free people to plead its case infringed on the right of citizens in the thirteen colonies of North America. The chord that tied the mother country of England to the colonies needed to be cut. The acts of the English government empowered and unified the colonists of North America, unleashing the power of representative government like the world had never seen. The ideals that were eloquently written in the Declaration of Independence were born out of the ashes of English