Mercantilism Initially, European expansionism was motivated by the desire to find gold and silver Soon after, however, they realized that there were other resources in the Americas that could be exploited for profit: Fish and fur Fish and fur became colonial Canada’s staple (ie. the products that they exploited the most)

Mercantilism The purpose of the mercantile system (a.k.a. “mercantilism”) was to generate as much wealth for the mother country (the heartland) by taking resources from the colony (the hinterland) The goal is to export more from the colony than you import, so that you make more money Colonies would serve as suppliers of raw goods The mother country would use these materials to make a product, and this product would then be sold to generate income for the mother country

Mercantilism Through “triangular trade” between continents, Europe was able to: obtain a free labour force by kidnapping Africans to use as slaves Take resources from their colonies Sell/trade manufactured goods back to their colonies (See p. 27) This helped the Europeans to expand and become even wealthier in the early process of globalization

Mercantilism Europe’s worldwide distribution of the Americas’ resources changed the global economy The European mercantile economy brought tremendous wealth into Europe In 1500, Europe’s gold and silver repositories totalled $200 million By 1600, it totalled $1.6 billion The trade routes to Asia and Africa were essentially forgotten now that there was so much money to be made from the Americas Europe emerged as a capitalist superpower, controlling all global trade

Paul Kennedy, historian Mercantilism “European societies entered into a constantly upward spiral of economic growth and enhanced military effectiveness which, over time, was to carry them ahead of all other regions of the globe” Paul Kennedy, historian Compare the economic state of Europe prior to contact to the economic state of Europe after contact. How did western Europe manage to change into the global trading power?