The concept of "mercantilism" primarily benefited which group?

The concept of "mercantilism" was an economic theory that dominated European thought from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, emphasizing the importance of accumulating wealth, particularly gold and silver, to enhance national power. Under this system, the primary beneficiaries were the European powers and their colonial economies.

Mercantilism led to the establishment of colonies primarily serving the interests of the mother country. Colonies were expected to provide raw materials to Europe and serve as markets for European manufactured goods. This created a cycle where European nations would extract resources from their colonies, process them into finished products, and sell them back to the colonies, thus generating immense profits for European powers.

While it might seem that local merchants or artisans in the colonies could gain from trade, the overall structure of mercantilism was designed to strengthen the European powers at the expense of the colonies' economic independence. Consequently, the theory played a critical role in ensuring that the wealth and power remained firmly in the hands of the European nations themselves, making them the primary beneficiaries of the mercantile system.