following the discovery of America strengthened the forces making for
economic freedom. Discoveries in the Western hemisphere opened up a
wide field for the adventure and enterprise of Europe. Commerce is the
strongest enemy of custom, and new opportunities gave a rude shock to
the conservatism both of the manor and of the village. With the rapid
growth of industry and manufactures, old methods broke down. In an
open market custom declines; it flourishes best in sheltered places.
Further, the movement of thought in the Reformation, and the spirit
of the times which expressed the principle of personal liberty
and allowed the individual to follow his own opinions and take the
consequences, were favorable to competition. Despite these facts, the
restraints of the national governments on trade continued great,
in some respects increasing during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, in France, Holland, and England. The regulation before
attempted by towns and villages was employed on a larger scale by
national governments with their industrial systems. The colonies in
America were used for the economic ends of the "mother country"
and for the selfish interests of the home merchants in Europe. The
American Revolution was one of the bitter fruits of the English policy
of trade restriction.

§ 13. #Adam Smith's influence#. "The Wealth of Nations," the first
great work on political economy, was published in the year 1776. That
was the "psychological moment" for its appearance, as public thought
was so prepared for it that it had its maximum possible influence.
The year of the American Declaration of Independence gave the most
striking object lesson on the evils of a selfish colonial policy that
interfered on a grand scale with economic freedom. The old customs had
become ill fitted to life, ill adapted to the rapid industrial changes
that were going on. What was needed in many directions, both