CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: E - The raw materials acquired through naval trade could be sold or manufactured in Europe, which generated revenue at home. The revenue, plus the precious metals from the New World that were turned into coinage, yielded an economy with a lot of currency in circulation. Subsequently, financial institutions like banks, stock companies and insurance companies were created to store, protect or invest people’s money. The raw materials and precious metals acquired in the New World, and the revenue generated by the manufactured goods that came from the raw resources, encouraged the European nations to establish permanent colonies in the Americas so that they had greater access to the resources and a new market in which to sell their products. (The Europeans did gain a great deal of revenue from selling goods to the natives- they generally traded goods for resources or took whatever they wanted. Numerous technological advancements occurred during this age, but only some of the naval advancements could be adapted for other industries, and that certainly wasn’t the driving force behind the Commercial Revolution. It certainly did help colonists to have access to manufactured goods from home, but they didn’t have to keep importing from Europe. Europe wanted to export to the colonists because the colonists would buy the goods if they were available, and it was a great source of revenue for the state. Again, European countries would sell goods to some of their overseas trading partners- those in their own colonies- but they did not sell goods to the natives very often. Manufactured goods were primarily for sale within their own country or in other European marketplaces.)