Excerpt from A History of the United States, Vol. 2: A Century of Colonial History, 1660-1760 The prompt action of the new government and the Convention Parliament in pushing on the passage of the Navigation Act was due to the financial straits of the new rulers, and to the pressure which the mercantile and in dustrial classes put upon them.3 In those days, mer chants, land owners, and men of education were united in believing that the exploitation of colonists for the benefit of the people of the mother country was right and proper. Such a policy does not indicate that they were actuated by a Spirit of despotism or disregard Of colonial interests, but Simply that they were living in the days when the existence of colonies could only be defended on business grounds. Moreover, the system that comes to be outlined in the navigation laws and acts of trade was a system of intraimperial free trade and preference for Eng lish products, which reminds one of the policy of the United States two hundred and fifty years later. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.