What are two ways that the Navigation Acts benefited England, and the colonies?
1 Answer
The Navigation Acts benefited England in that the colonies had to purchase imports only brought by English ships and could only sale their products to England.
Explanation:
The Navigation Acts only benefited England. The Acts added costs to all the items that the colonies had wanted to import. Instead of the prices being controlled by competition with other importers English merchants could charge what ever the market could support. If merchants from other nations had be able to bring goods to the colonies the prices for imports would have been lower.
The Navigation Acts hurt the colonies economic development. Manufactured goods from the colonies could not compete with manufactured goods produced in England. First England could charge tariffs on the manufactured goods from the colonies. Also the colonies could not attempt to sale their goods to other nations and developing colonies. Mexico, Brazil, and other colonies would have been interested in buying the colonies, guns, glass, rum, and other products. Under the Navigation Acts these could only be sold to England.
The raw materials produced by the colonies could only be sold to England. Tobacco grown in the colonies could only be sold to English merchants that then could resale the tobacco for a profit to France, Germany and other European markets. The same unfair practices applied to lumber, furs, and cotton.
The Navigation Acts were all for the benefit of the "mother country" There was no benefit to the colonies.
