Mercantilism was an economic theory that encouraged government regulation of the economy for the purpose of enhancing state power. The primary goal was to run trade surpluses and thereby fill the state’s coffers with silver and gold. The predominant school of economic thought from the 15th through the 18th centuries, mercantilism rejected free trade and fueled European imperialism.
British economic policy was mercantilist in nature. The British Parliament enacted such mechanisms as protectionist trade barriers, governmental regulations, and subsidies to domestic industries for the purpose of augmenting British finances at the expense of colonial territories and other European imperial powers. England also sought to prevent its colonies in North America from trading with other European countries and from developing a robust manufacturing industry. To this end, beginning in 1651, the British Parliament adopted a series of legislation known as the Navigation Acts.