In the long period from 1500 to 1800, western European nation-states were all influenced by a set of ideas known as mercantilism(重商主义). (1) Mercantilist doctrine and institutions were important because they were held by practical businesspeople and heads of state who strongly influenced public policy and institutional change.
The primary aim of mercantilists was to achieve power and wealth for the state. To generate an inflow of gold or silver through trade, the value of exports should exceed the value of imports. And the state could attain great power only if political and economic unity became a fact. (2) If all the materials necessary to foster domestic industry were not available, they could best be obtained by establishing colonies or friendly foreign trading posts from which such goods could be imported. And a strong merchant marine could carry foreign goods, thereby helping to secure favorable trade balances. (3) Mercantilists believed that these means of achieving national power could be made effective by the passage and strict enforcement of legislation regulating economic life.
(4) Almost as soon as Virginia tobacco began to be shipped in commercial quantities to England, King James I levied a tax on it while agreeing to prohibit the growth of competing tobacco in England. Taxes, regulation, and subsidies were all used as mercantile policies, but the primary ones that affected the colonies were the Navigation Acts.
In 1640s, Americans had slipped into the habit of shipping their goods directly to continental ports, and the Dutch made great inroads into the carrying trade of the colonies. After the Restoration, England was in a position to enforce a strict commercial policy, beginning with the Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663. Despite the continued modifications to these acts by policy changes, it is sufficient to note three primary categories of trade restriction:
(5) All trade of the colonies was to be carried in vessels that were English built and owned, commanded by an English captain, and manned by a crew of whom three-quarters were English.
All foreign merchants were excluded from dealing directly in the commerce of the English colonies. They could engage in colonial trade only through England and merchants resident there.
Certain commodities produced in the colonies could be exported only to England (essentially any destination within the Empire). These "enumerated" goods included sugar, tobacco, cotton, indigo, ginger, and various dyewoods.
参考答案
1.重商主义学说与制度之所以重要是因为它们被具有影响力的商人和政府首脑们信奉，而正是这些人强有力地影响着国家公共政策与制度的变革。
2.如果促进国内产业发展所需的物资难以获得，则最好是通过建立殖民地或友好的国外商栈来进口。
3.重商主义者认为，这些增强国力的手段可以由通过并严格执行规范经济生活的法规来实现。
4.几乎在弗吉尼亚的烟草刚开始大批运往英国时，英王詹姆士一世便对此征税，同时同意禁止在英国竞争性地种植烟草。
5.凡殖民地的贸易，其所用船只必须是英国制造和拥有，船长和至少3／4的船员也必须是英国人。