First of all, mercantilism was to unify and increase the power of Britain by a strict governmental regulation of the entire national economy through policies designed to secure an accumulation of money, a favorable balance of trade, the development of agriculture and manufactures, and the establishment of foreign trading monopolies. George Bancroft wrote in the 1830's that the Navigation Acts were so oppressive as

to constitute a primary cause of the American Revolution. Charles M. Andrews, a member of the imperial school of historians, wrote in the 1930's that the Navigation Acts did not represent a policy of economic oppression but rather a sincere attempt by Britain to organize the administration of the empire. Yet another historian, Lawrence A. Harper, who wrote in 1939, took the view of the burdens outweighing the benefits received from the Navigation Acts. I agree with George Bancroft and Lawrence A Harper, I believe the Navigation Acts did more harm than good for the American colonies.

There were both good points and bad points to British mercantilism. The colonies received military protection, a sure market for all of the goods offered by Americans, and with some of the laws the industries in America were benefited. Some bad points to British mercantilism were control over everything the colonists did, Britain became stricter and stricter with the colonists, any money the colonists made fro

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Approximate Word count = 673
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)