Gilberto&Lisette

On February 10, 1763, the [|French & Indian War (Seven Years' War)] came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Defeated by Britain and its allies, France was forced to cede all of Canada in exchange for the return of Guadeloupe and Martinique. In addition, Spain obtained French Louisiana in exchange for Florida which was given to the British. While triumphant, the war had badly stressed Britain's finances plunging the nation into debt. In an effort to alleviate these financial burdens, the government in London began exploring various options for raising revenues
 * Effects of the French & Indian War**

The Navigation Acts were passed by the English Parliament in the seventeenth century. The Acts were originally aimed at excludhing the Dutch from the profits made by English trade. The mercantilist theory behind the Navigation Acts assumed that world trade was fixed and the colonies existed for the parent country. [|Back to The Colonial Era Chronology] The Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1696 restricted American trade in the following ways; 1. Only British ships could transport imported and exported goods from the colonies.2. The only people who were allowed to trade with the colonies had to be British citizens.3. Commodities such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton wool which were produced in the colonies could be exported only to British ports. Before 1763 the English civil war and the Glorious Revolution were taking place in Europe. During this time the British had to deal with the wars in Europe and really didn't enforce the Navigation Acts, due to their preoccupation with the war. Colonist then stopped following the laws, and smuggling and bribery became a common sight throughout the colonies. The colonists began trading with non-British colonies in the Caribbean, this trading contributed to many colonial merchants and farmers prospering. Britain once again tried to enforce these laws after the French and Indian War, but the colonists sternly objected. These acts aroused great hostility in the American colonies. The Navigation Acts were finally revoked in 1849 after Britain supported the policy of free trade

Mercantilism is the belief in the benefits of profitable trading. Some believe that the American Revoltion was an outgrowth of conflict between the colonies and England brought about by England's mercantilist policies.

In attempt to gain wealth and power, Great Britain started to enforce the theory of mercantilism. Their motive was to increase their prosperity using their colonies. They expected the colonies to provide them with goods and to only buy British goods in return. As a result of this attempt, the colonies were actually the ones who were benefiting from mercantilism the most.