BOTH in the mother country and the colonies most of the
period was dominated by the principles of mercan-
tilism and when that doctrine was given up in the
metropolis it continued to be pursued with unabated fervour
in the colonies. It was more than a mere scheme of trade;
it was a complete theory of empire, providing for the appro-
priate participation of each unit in the life of the whole, all
being bound together with the magic thread of trade. Hence
its persistence, despite the destruction by the withdrawal
of the original colonies in 1783 of the conditions which had
given it reality.

Our period may be described as marked by the decline
and fall of mercantilism, the problem being to trace the
steps of the decline and to understand the consequences of
the fall. To do this satisfactorily requires an acquaintance
with British and colonial public opinion and with the chief
statutory enactments. These matters must be studied in
other works.

After the Revolution the aim of English commercial
policy continued unchanged -- the maintenance of a self-
contained, regulated empire, with the scales loaded some-
what, but not unduly, in favour of the British merchant.
That ideal under the new conditions was impracticable and
mercantilism became even more a mere struggle of vested
interests than it had previously been.

Two lines along which policy ran may be distinguished
after 1783. In the first place, what was to be the relation
of the remaining colonies to the lost? Was the letter of
mercantilistic law to be applied, with its complete prohibition

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