Mercantilism: How Colonies Served the Mother Country

During the Age of Exploration, mercantilism became a popular economic theory that shaped the relationship between European countries and their colonies. Mercantilism held that a nation's power depended on its wealth, which could be increased through trade.

Colonies served the mother country by providing raw materials, such as timber and sugar, and by being markets for finished goods, which helped the mother country gain wealth and power. This relationship often meant that the colonies were heavily controlled and could not trade freely with other nations.