Mercantilism was the primary economic system of trade used from the 16th to 18th century. Mercantilist theorists believed that the amount of wealth in the world was static. Thus, European nations took several strides to ensure their nations accumulated as much of this wealth as possible. The goal was to increase a nation's wealth by imposing government regulation that oversaw all of the nation's commercial interests. It was believed national strength could be maximized by limiting imports via tariffs and maximizing exports.
