FREE ESSAY ON MERCANTILISM

MERCANTILISM

Mercantilism
Mercantilism was a method of trade used by 16th, 17th, and 18th century Monarchies to
increase exports and the amount of imports of precious metals coming in. In a country
under mercantilist persuasion, a country would do all it could to bring in money.
Treaties were made with countries so that one trading country would have exclusive
trading privileges in another country. A country would control the production of items,
(how much and how many) and then 'encouraged' these items be traded to other countries.
With goal obviously being profit, these countries sought to sell more than they bought.
The raw materials needed for products were mostly gotten from the inside instead of
buying from outside. Frequently, manufacturing and production would go before practices
such as farming or the like.
Countries that had colonies across oceans or in different places in the continent would
by all means use these connections to their advantage and take every dime and quarter
they could. It became a practice of many parent countries to frequently call in their
profits to enhance the banks at home. 
One could compare the Mercantile System to Communism or a Socialist economy. Mercantilism
was not as extreme as communism, in that the concept was not to control a person's life
and being, but rather, focused on the financial wellbeing and wealth. It would seem more
akin to Socialism, even though the people own the means of production instead of
individuals for the benefit of the population. The king retained the power to grand
monopolies on trade or export to certain individuals, therefor strengthening his own
power over people. Many of these wealth seeking countries also sought other things:
namely, more land, fertile land, so as to extend their trading farther and farther into
new worlds, such as the Americas. 
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The Mercantile practices also had effect on population growth and decline. Many people
who lived in outward areas of cities soon saw the benefits of living in the city, such as
jobs in industry where money was relatively steady and not depending whether it rains in
the next 2 weeks. The farmers put down the plows and instead took up a job in town. Many
people also moved into the cities just because of conditions and safety. Those who lived
in mountains would move down into the plains, or into cities, sometimes only seasonally
to work. They also moved sometimes country to country, such as people living in France
going to Spain to work, and the like. 
The fear of every mercantilist country was, as one index put it, "fear of goods" or fear
of deficits in trade. As it is today, the fear was that one would pay out their profits
of exporting to import what they need, therefor losing the wealth they so desperately
wanted. They tried to get gold bullion wherever and however they could. Countries became
wealthier, and spent money on things such as enlargement of cities, estates for
officials, and town areas, and day to day government. This money also went to fund the
many wars that were occurring at the time. The money also went into the creation of large
shipping industries and a larger population trained in industry. 
This however was also the downfall, since with the growth of wealth also came inflation.
Inflation caused the price of everything from food, to beverages, housing, and raw
materials to go up. The towns could no longer support such huge industries and the
exporting, and therefore the system went belly up. 
The idea behind Mercantilism was to control the production of goods by the government so
long as it benefits the people. Did it benefit the people? For a while yes, but
ultimately drove the people into the ground.
Bibliography
1998, world book
1998, encarta