mercantilism was the basic policy imposed by britain on its colonies. mercantilism meant that the government and the merchants became partners with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires. the government protected its merchants—and kept others out—by trade barriers, regulations, and subsidies to domestic industries in order to maximise exports from and minimise imports to the realm. the government had to fight smuggling, which became a favourite american technique in the 18th century to circumvent the restrictions on trading with the french, spanish or dutch. the goal of mercantilism was to run trade surpluses, so that gold and silver would pour into london. the government took its share through duties and taxes, with the remainder going to merchants in britain. the government spent much of its revenue on a large and powerful royal navy, which not only protected the british colonies but threatened the colonies of the other empires, and sometimes seized them. the colonies were captive markets for british industry, and the goal was to enrich the mother country.