Mercantilism and the Navigation Acts

Define opportunity cost and net benefit before the embargo and canal sheets. Ask students to back each judgment with a number and a fact.

Sort twelve colonial cargoes as allowed, enumerated or illegal under the Navigation Acts. The directions on the page read: Read the text and the box. You will use both to sort trade situations on page 2. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade Economics and Money, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Mercantilism was the belief that a nation grows rich by selling more to other nations than it buys. Colonies sent raw materials home and bought finished goods, and the Navigation Acts made that law.

It barred American ships from sailing to foreign ports. Exports fell, farmers lost buyers and New England shippers were hit hard, while British and French policy did not change.

Shipping a ton of goods from Buffalo to New York City cost roughly $100 by wagon and roughly $10 by canal boat. Students use these figures and sample data to find net benefit and payback period.