Social Sciences and History / Unit 1 SSH 0006 short lesson, about 20 seconds
What Colonies Were For
Captions available
The idea
European rulers believed colonies existed to enrich the home country, a view called mercantilism that treated wealth as fixed. Spain's encomienda granted rights to native labor; joint stock companies spread investors' risk.
In practice
Gold and silver to Spain; furs to France and the Dutch.
Where people slip
Unit six defines mercantilism in full. Its colonial logic is what the Navigation Acts later enforced.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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