World History
Kim
Mercantilism and the New World Colonies
During the 17th and 18th centuries Europeans believed in an idea called mercantilism, the idea that a nation's
existence depended on power, and power depended on wealth. In order to gain wealth, a nation needed gold to build
strong navies and purchase vital trade goods.
The Europeans thought up of two ways to increase a nation’s wealth. The first strategy was to obtain as much
gold and silver as possible. Historians saw this when they saw the conquistadors when they conquered the Aztec and
Inca civilizations, as their primary motive was to get gold and silver to help make their country, as well as themselves,
wealthier and more powerful. This thievery of wealth was done under the excuse of spreading Christianity to the ‘noble
savages.’ While the conquistadors were heavily outnumbered, the vast majority of Native American warriors were either
killed by advanced weaponry, or old world diseases such as smallpox and influenza.
Another way to increase a nation’s wealth was to create a favorable balance of trade. The idea was that if a
country sold more goods than it bought, the balance of trade would be favorable. If a nation bought more goods than it
sold, the nation would lose money and thus have an unfavorable balance of trade.
How did the European nations get all the gold and silver they needed? Where did they get the raw resources like
lumber they needed to make and sell goods? One answer: Colonies. With the discovery of the New World, European
nations raced across the Atlantic Ocean to take advantage of the dying New World civilizations. They setup colonies all
throughout the Americas and the colonists harvested the raw materials so they could be sent back to the Mother
Country where it could then be turned into a finished product. The finished products were then sent back to the
colonies to be sold for a profit. For example, the colonists cut down trees, these trees were sent to England where
craftsmen made furniture, paper, barrels, and tools. These goods were then sent back to the colonies and sold to the
colonists. The money went back to England.
Harvesting the raw materials from the New World took physically intense labor. Resources like lumber and sugar
required thousands of hours of grueling work. This was done by hands of slaves. Upwards to 12 million slaves were
shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to work the sugar fields of the New World. While many slaves were indeed kidnapped
by European smugglers and traders, most slaves were sold by other Africans that owned them! This torturous passage
of the slaves was called the Middle Passage, and was the third leg in the Triangular Trade. Slave ships were floating
slaughterhouses with stenches and scenes so graphic and gruesome that 20% of all passengers did not survive the trip.
Most slaves died of malnutrition, dehydration, physical abuse, and suffocation on board. Bodies were thrown overboard
which led to dozens of sharks following the ships for hundreds of miles. Slaves were inhumanely packed into cargo holds
full of blood, mucus, and human waste. These slaves gave the European countries the manpower needed to produce
the raw materials necessary for their trade.
World History
Kim
Using complete sentences, use the reading to answer the following questions:
1. Explain how a nation survived according to mercantilism.
2. Explain in detail the two ways European nations were able to increase their wealth.
3. Why were the outnumbered conquistadors able to seduce and defeat the New World civilizations?
4. How did the European nations acquire the raw materials from the New World after they had defeated the
indigenous populations?
5. Food for thought: What allows human beings to be so cruel to other human beings? How and why were the slavetraders able to treat the slaves so inhumanely?