Advanced Placement (AP) World History Practice Exam 2025 - Free AP World History Practice Questions and Study Guide

Mercantilism is an economic policy that emphasizes the importance of accumulating wealth, particularly through the acquisition of precious metals like gold and silver, as well as maintaining a favorable trade balance. This policy was prevalent from the 16th to the 18th centuries and was centered around the idea that national strength can be maximized by limiting imports via tariffs and maximizing exports.

Countries adopting mercantilist policies aimed to export more than they imported, thereby increasing their wealth in precious metals, which were viewed as a measure of a nation's power and prosperity. Governments often took active roles in regulating the economy to promote domestic industries and form monopolies over certain trade goods, all in the name of enhancing their national fortunes.

In contrast, capitalism focuses on private ownership and free markets, socialism emphasizes collective or government ownership of the means of production, and feudalism is a social structure derived from a land-based economy. Each of these systems has distinct principles and goals that do not align with the mercantilist focus on wealth accumulation through trade and the possession of precious metals.