Both today and in the past, one truth becomes evident. That is, that a nation's power and/or influence comes from its financial status or wealth because it allows a country to adequately defend/attack against other foreign countries. In the past countries used the term mercantilism which is a system in which a country tries to accumulate wealth through trade with other foreign nations. This is achieved when a country exports more than it imports, while at the same time increasing the supply of gold and other precious metals. In other words, a nation's "real" wealth is determined by its supply of gold and silver and thus by creating a trade surplus instead of a trade deficit. One way to achieve this is through tariffs (taxes) by which countries protect their domestic products and raise the prices of imported foreign goods. In a general sense, mercantilism brought various economic benefits to countries like England, which led to the colonization of the US colonies by the English. As a result, this led to an economic boom and made the British Empire even richer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Overall, mercantilism has been the main driving force for countries to expand and colonize unclaimed lands for a chance to make profits and enrich themselves. Colonies were seen as existing for the sole purpose of benefiting their home countries through the export of raw materials to be used for domestically produced products. As a result, almost no trade existed between other colonies or nations, but rather existed only with the colony's homeland. An example of this would be if a colony wanted to open trade with another nation besides its own homeland, then its homeland would have to approve it, which would thus allow taxes (tariffs) to be collected from all revenues. Furthermore, mercantilism played a key role in early exploration and colonization because countries wanted to become richer, so as a result they sent explorers to map new lands in search of natural resources that would be sold for money and thus increase the power of a nation. of the Americas, more precisely of the United States, England had colonized much of the eastern coast. These colonies became known as the original 13 colonies of the United States, all founded by Englishmen seeking wealth or economic growth. In terms of location, the colonies ranged from Georgia to New Hampshire. The reasons for the colonization of the “New World” are mainly economic reasons, but also religious freedoms. While this may be true, the British government was only interested in one thing, and that was monetary gains. For the simple reason that they could heavily tax exports such as cash crops or other resources from their colonies. These new colonies provided many new resources to the English. The first is to have land suitable for growing and feeding livestock, the second and third are abundant forests to provide timber for shipbuilding and wildlife for an impending fur trade. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Generally, mercantilism is the measurement of a nation's "real" wealth through the use of gold, silver, or other precious metals. In other words, a country must export more supplies than it imports to create a trade surplus rather than a trade deficit. However, a country can implement some.