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Overview

In this experience, students gain an understanding of trade and profit in the North American colonies by explaining triangular trade, mercantilism, and the impacts both had on the North American Colonies. First, students consider why sellers can charge more for sold-out items. Next, students connect the triangular trade to supply and demand and discuss how it shaped and supported the system of mercantilism. Then, students evaluate a secondary source to explain how the triangular trade impacted the colonies and their economies. Finally, students are invited to complete a case study on how the tobacco trade impacted the colonies.

Estimated Duration: 45–60 minutes

Vocabulary:

cash crop: a crop grown mainly to be sold for profit rather than used by the farmer for food or feeding livestock
manufactured goods: products made from raw materials by people using tools or machines to create finished items for use or trade mercantilism: an economic policy in which a country increases its wealth and power by controlling trade and exporting more than it imports
plantation: a large farm that grows a single cash crop for sale and often relies on enslaved or low-paid labor
profit: the money a person or business has left over after all costs and expenses are paid
triangular trade: a system of transatlantic trade that connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas and involved the exchange of goods and enslaved people between the three continents

Objectives:

Identify how the triangular trade and mercantilism contributed to the growth of the North American Colonies
Explain the impacts the system of mercantilism had on the North American colonies

This lesson includes several key vocabulary terms that are essential to understanding the content. Consider reviewing these terms with students before beginning the experience to support comprehension and discussion.

Additionally, consider explaining the meanings of import and export, because though they are not vocabulary terms identified for the unit, knowing their meanings will support students in understanding the lesson’s content and the principles of mercantilism.

Think about how certain goods gain value. For example, when a new gaming system was released in 2020, people rushed to stores to buy it. It quickly sold out. With none left on the shelves, some people began buying the systems from online resellers, but at more than twice the original price.

How would you explain why the price of the gaming system increased so much?

Why do you think resellers were able to charge such high prices when reselling the sold-out gaming system online?

Post your answer

Review exemplar answers with the class and ask students to explain their reasoning, especially those that identify the relationship between high demand and low supply, even if students don’t use the terms supply or demand. This scene is meant to spark curiosity about how goods are valued and why people are sometimes willing to pay high prices. It also introduces economic thinking in a modern context to build a bridge toward the systems that fueled European wealth during colonization. Students do not need to use specific vocabulary at this stage.

Before moving on, consider showing students the video that introduces the economic law of supply and demand, so that students can better understand the simple definitions of supply and demand in the next scene.

The same factors that allowed resellers to charge high prices for the gaming system contributed to the growth of the colonies during the Age of Exploration. In this experience will learn about how the demand for materials led to the development of systems set up for European countries to acquire those materials and gain wealth, and how this shaped life in the colonies.

Objectives:

Identify how the triangular trade and mercantilism contributed to the growth of the North American Colonies
Explain the impacts the system of mercantilism had on the North American colonies

Colonists and enslaved Africans load tobacco on a ship to be sold for profit in Europe

When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.

Trade and Profit