Changes

The basic concept of mercantilism is to limit imports from foreign countries (not including colonies), and maximize exports to everyone (including colonies), in order to maximize the "trade surplus" (the amount by which receipts exceeds expenses).  Colonies played an important role in this system by supplying raw materials at low cost to the mother country (e.g., England or France), which could then use the materials to produce low-cost finished products that could be sold to the world.<ref>http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Mercantilism.html</ref>  By selling more than the country buys, it could accumulate a surplus in money (gold) and become wealthier.

The basic concept of mercantilism is to limit imports from foreign countries (not including colonies), and maximize exports to everyone (including colonies), in order to maximize the "trade surplus" (the amount by which receipts exceeds expenses).  Colonies played an important role in this system by supplying raw materials at low cost to the mother country (e.g., England or France), which could then use the materials to produce low-cost finished products that could be sold to the world.<ref>http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Mercantilism.html</ref>  By selling more than the country buys, it could accumulate a surplus in money (gold) and become wealthier.

But there's no free lunch, and these European nations were all-too-happy to use slavery to do the back-breaking work of gathering the raw materials, such as crops and minerals.  

But there's no free lunch, and these European nations were all-too-happy to use slavery to do the back-breaking work of gathering the raw materials, such as crops and minerals.  A slave trade developed to bring blacks from Africa to the New World in order to work the plantations for the settlers from [[England]] and other European powers.

 

 

The Spanish system looked better in theory, because the encomendero was supposed to educate the enonomiendas, convert them to Christianity (Catholicism), and not exercise any political power over them (as in telling them how to live).  In practice, however, there were no "checks and balances" on exploitation and abuse of power in working the Indians.

== Topics for Discussion ==

== Topics for Discussion ==