940 B
940 B
Enumerated Commodities
Definition
Specific colonial products that could only be exported to the mother country under the Navigation Acts, including tobacco, sugar, cotton, indigo, and naval stores. These commodities were subject to special restrictions designed to channel colonial trade through British ports and merchants, creating a monopoly system that limited colonial economic autonomy.
Source Chapter
Book IV, Chapter 7
Context
Smith uses enumerated commodities as a key example of how mercantilist regulations artificially constrain colonial development. He argues that by forcing colonies to sell these products exclusively to the mother country, even when other markets might offer better prices, the system reduces colonial prosperity and efficiency.
Economic Domain
Regulation