Mercantilism and the Glorious Revolution

Mercantilism Mercantilism: The process of forcing a colony to only buy and sell goods to and from the mother country. Mercantilists believed that a country’s wealth was measured by the amount of gold and silver it possessed Also believed that having a greater number of exports than imports would encourage cash flow

Mercantilism Mercantilists also believed that a country should establish colonies Would be a source of raw materials Raw materials would be sent to mother country and processed into manufactured goods Manufactured goods would then be sold back to colony at increased cost

The Navigation Act- 1660 King Charles II wanted to generate wealth by controlling trade to American colonies 1660- Parliament passed a navigation act that required all goods imported to the colonies to be transported on English ships Also listed specific raw materials that the colonies could only sell to England Included tobacco, cotton, and sugar These were the most profitable for the American colonists

The Navigation Act- 1663 Required all good imported by the colonies to come through England Merchants who were bringing goods to the colonies had to stop in England, pay taxes, and then ship the goods out on English ships What do you think this does to prices? Why?

The Navigation Acts- Results The Navigation acts angered colonial merchants In most cases, the merchants simply broke the laws Merchants smuggled their goods to Europe Caribbean African How do you think England is going to react to the colonists breaking the law?

The Navigation Acts- Results As a result of colonial smuggling, the king revoked the Massachusetts colonial charter and declared Massachusetts a royal colony So What? Charles successor, James II, merged Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Rhode Island together to form the Dominion of New England Would also eventually include Connecticut, New York and New Jersey The King abolished colonial assemblies and appointed a new governor and councilors New governor, Sir Edmond Andros, ruled with an iron hand

Why did James II create the Dominion of New England? Discussion Question: Why did James II create the Dominion of New England? He merged several colonies into one province as a punishment to the New England Colonies for refusing to follow the navigation acts.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 James II was overthrown and was replaced by William and Mary The bloodless change of power became known as The Glorious Revolution Parliament established the English Bill of Rights Limited the power of the king, and listed the rights that Parliament and English citizens were guaranteed Was later incorporated into the American Bill of Rights

Meanwhile… back in America An uprising occurred in Boston, and Governor Andros was ousted The new monarchs created new charters for Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut Colonists had elected assemblies King appointed the governor