Study Guide Starting with L M
|
|
Mercantilism - Mercantilism was an economic system, prevalent in Britain and other Western European countries in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. The goal of mercantilism was to accumulate large stores of gold, silver, or other precious metals. Since money was viewed primarily as a store of value, the accumulation of money, in the reliable form of precious metals, was the wealth of the nation. Increasing the store of gold and silver was possible only through trade. A country would try to maximize its exports and minimize its imports, thus accumulating as much inflowing capital in the form of reliable precious metals as possible. Mercantilism could not be called a friendly, neighborly sort of system, since one country could only gain at the expense of another. In addition, the mercantile system promoted the acquisition of colonies for the purpose of exploitation for raw materials and development of markets for the exports of the mother country. Midnight Ride (1775) - On the night of April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren (1741-1775) of the Committee of Safety sent patriots Paul Revere (1735-1818) and William Dawes on an important errand. They were to ride to Lexington to warn colonists that the British were heading toward Lexington and Concord to confiscate military supplies. In 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) described that night in a poem called "Paul Revere's Ride," although the event did not occur exactly the way it is depicted in the poem.. For example, Revere was not alone in his ride: in addition to William Dawes, Samuel Prescott joined the ride. Revere and Dawes did not make it all the way to Concord. After they warned the patriots at Lexington, they were captured by a British patrol, although Prescott reached Concord safely. The Midnight Ride is also called Paul Revere's Ride. Minutemen - The people of the Massachusetts militia called themselves Minutemen, since they aimed to be ready for battle at a minute's notice.
|