1. Topic: How did economic factors contribute to Colonial Discontent in the Pre-Revolutionary Era ( )?

2. Underlying Causes of the Revolution
Physical distance
No class distinctions in America  colonists different from England
Population differences (size, ethnicities, etc)
Culture, economics, religion and 7 Years War created a concept of “Americans”
Problems with Mercantilism

3. British Mercantilism Competition to be the richest country in Europe
Role of gold
Exports must be greater than imports
Colonies to be a market for mother country
Colonies as source for raw materials

4. The Navigation Acts (1650) Codified Mercantilism
Weakly enforced originally (Salutary Neglect)
Restricted trade to English ships only
Enumerated products
Restrictions on what colonials could manufacture
Gold and sliver drained from colonists
Printing paper money  depreciated
Colonial laws could be voided by Privy Council

5. Benefits and Drawbacks of Mercantilism for the colonists
Salutary Neglect for over 100 years
Until 1763, smuggling “permitted”
Tobacco planters had a monopoly in Britain
Colonial self-government allowed
Protection by British Army and Navy
Drawbacks
Americans couldn’t trade freely under favorable conditions (other nations)
At the mercy of British economic cycles
Tobacco vulnerable to low prices (Virginians in constant debt)
Enforcement after the French and Indian War
Increase of colonial resentment

6. Conclusion
1) What was the goal of the British policy of Mercantilism? How was this goal to be attained?
2) Were the colonists right to be angry about the Navigation Acts? Explain.